S31.E11/12: This One is For One Million Dollars

[Fake Jan Brady]

42 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Does anyone know why Phil lowered his voice so much when checking in the teams after the Afghanimals at the market?

That was so odd; Phil shouted that Leo & Jamal were team number one, but "because we're in a very public place" whispered the placings to Kory & Tyler and Colin & Christie [but held up two fingers while doing so to K&T, which negated his discretion].

[dgpolo]

12 minutes ago, srpturtle80 said:

Was just able to watch tonight even though I checked this board yesterday morning to see who won. I wanted T&K to win so badly and I wanted to be mentally prepared if they weren’t the winners. Sigh. I still cried watching them come in second. 

I’m a Michigander so I was beyond excited watching them race in the D. That was fantastic. And I lived in metro Detroit for 10 years yet I also thought they were driving to Indiana when the last clue was read. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤣

I absolutely loved this season and I’m so very bummed that’s it’s over now.  

Me too, and it was because I was on vacation in Michigan! when I saw the finale was in Michigan it did seem to make it closer somehow, even though they were there a year ago and I was nowhere near Detroit! (Holland and Grand Haven).

Count me in as another who thought they were being sent to Indiana. (I'm from Illinois.)

I was happy C&C won though I did not like them in their original season, I would have been happier if T&K had won.

[Rachel RSL]

2 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Does anyone know why Phil lowered his voice so much when checking in the teams after the Afghanimals at the market?

1 hour ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

That was so odd; Phil shouted that Leo & Jamal were team number one, but "because we're in a very public place" whispered the placings to Kory & Tyler and Colin & Christie [but held up two fingers while doing so to K&T, which negated his discretion].

When Leo and Jamal arrived at the pit stop, I said to my friend: “There are so many people around, do they not care about spoilers?” Then Phil started doing the quiet, shady check-ins after that. I’m thinking maybe a crowd started to gather once people saw what was going on so Phil was trying to be low-key about who was in what place. I have no proof of this, of course, that’s just the only explanation I can think of.

[amazingracefan]

5 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

so some of the earlier teams now have jobs/families they can’t leave, aren’t healthy enough or have passed on, or haven’t spoken to their former teammate in a decade, etc.

In some cases people won't be available obviously, same for teams in the last decade.  But some might be available and be willing to team up again for the chance to win.  And it's interesting to see how people are now.  I have a feeling there was a greater age range of people in the past on this show too. 

There's nostalgia but also a wider pool of people to select, and a greater number of people who had some impact in their earlier appearance to choose from.

--------------------------

Did everyone see Team 'Fun' dancing together on the mat at the end for the cameras?  They have to look fun.

Another point I'd make on this season is that the final two legs just showed what I always thought - more self-navigation (the penultimate episode) and tougher tasks (last episode) will make this show more entertaining and more popular again.

Edited June 29, 2019 by amazingracefan

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

the final two legs just showed what I always thought - more self-navigation (the penultimate episode) and tougher tasks (last episode) will make this show more entertaining and more popular again.

From your lips...

[Haleth]

I finally got to watch last night and am very happy to see C&C win.  (I did keep checking the live post Wed night so I was already aware of who won.)  The last 2 legs were frantic and exhausting.  So many tasks and one that was even edited out?  Crazy hard.  The rowing vs memory challenge was brutal.  The fowling thing was not very interesting, I sort of wish that had been edited out instead of whatever the other task was that we didn't see.

(Didn't Phil say something about the fowling having something to do with the Indy 500?  Between that and the Ft Wayne reference I too was confused about where they actually were.)

I would have been happy with any of the last 4 teams but I was pulling for C&C (despite Christie being pretty worthless the whole time).  Ok, I'll admit her strength is encouraging Colin.  They really are a perfectly paired couple. 

Didn't the Afghanimals have a similar screw up earlier due to not paying attention to the clue?  Maybe I'm thinking of the VR task in Dubai where one of them kept making the same mistake over and over.  Good for them for finishing all the tasks though so they could take the record away from Rachel.

All in all, very good season with lots of fun sites and challenges.  Well done!

[fishcakes]

I started out the season rooting for Leo, Jamal, and Pablo, but Colin and Christie quickly became my favorites and Tyler and Korey were so drama-free and competent that I loved them too, so I was really happy with these teams being the final three. I had no idea how much I wanted C&C to win until that drum task when they came close to falling into second and I was genuinely nervous for them from my couch. Great work by the editors and camera people showing their lever in the wrong position, and that moment when Colin figures it out with the music crashing in the background and he reaches out in slow motion and flips it up was so cinematic.

Also a great moment (but less fraught, of course) was when Leo saw the ducklings.

Such a fun, great season.

[illdoc]

16 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

Season one was filmed 19 years ago (!!!) so some of the earlier teams now have jobs/families they can’t leave, aren’t healthy enough or have passed on, or haven’t spoken to their former teammate in a decade, etc

I'd love Frank and Margarita's daughter (who was 10 months old while they were racing) to be a contestant! There are probably a few other offspring of winners/final 3/"favorites" who are old enough to be racers these days. Not saying that there should be an entire season of them...just maybe a couple of teams (or just one member of the team) who could be racing to "beat/equal" their parents race placing.

[Quilt Fairy]

5 hours ago, Haleth said:

Didn't Phil say something about the fowling having something to do with the Indy 500?

It was thought up by some guys who were drinking and watching the Indy 500.  That's a pretty loose connection, IMO. 

11 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

Did everyone see Team 'Fun' dancing together on the mat at the end for the cameras?  They have to look fun

They're definitely trying too hard. 

My mother bought a house that had been owned by a serious coin collector, and it came with a decent sized vault in the basement.  Even though we had the combination, I could only get it open about 25% of the time.  They can be tricky. Luckily, we never had anything of value that we put in it.  🙂 

[AZChristian]

2 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

They're (Team Fun) definitely trying too hard. 

They weren't really "dancing."  Becca was in the frame with Floyd, and moving to music . . . but she was so busy playing to the camera that his presence was superfluous.  

[ML89]

That rappel face forward, open a bank vault challenge must have been inspired by someone binge watching Leverage because Parker would have rocked it. 

I’m glad a few other folks were baffled by Fort Wayne because I had to stop and remember the connection to Detroit.

Edited June 29, 2019 by ML89

[Browncoat]

So, for Becca not to be considered to be "on", the only thing she can do is stand in one spot, perfectly still, with a stoic expression on her face?  Maybe she really was having fun on the mat at the end.

[AZChristian]

14 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

So, for Becca not to be considered to be "on", the only thing she can do is stand in one spot, perfectly still, with a stoic expression on her face?  Maybe she really was having fun on the mat at the end.

I actually like Becca . . . but at the end shot, everyone else seemed to be interacting with people . . . she was mugging for the camera.  Even as someone who liked her throughout the race, it was kind of obvious.

[green]

5 hours ago, illdoc said:

I'd love Frank and Margarita's daughter (who was 10 months old while they were racing) to be a contestant! There are probably a few other offspring of winners/final 3/"favorites" who are old enough to be racers these days. Not saying that there should be an entire season of them...just maybe a couple of teams (or just one member of the team) who could be racing to "beat/equal" their parents race placing.

I was thinking of a whole theme of TAR: The Next Generation so I'm with you there ... and beyond.  Either two next gen on a team or even include a former Racer as the mom (or dad) now with their grown kid.

I'm glad there was no Race memory test this last leg.  Everyone keeps journals throughout the Race now so it isn't all that hard anymore.  And it was never a "thing" from the beginning.  Just a passing phase but now the Racers are on to it it has outlived its purpose of creating max stress right before the final mat. 

The drum set did that just fine this time.  And they assembled a small plane was it last season.  Maybe assembling random stuff is the new stress producer and you can't prepare in advance to assemble every known object in the world.

Though I wonder if the Afganibles assembled their drum set in far less time it took for Leo to do the vault RB.  I would so be Leo since I screwed up on my locker locks throughout school all the time.

Edited June 30, 2019 by green

[dgpolo]

4 minutes ago, green said:

I would so be Leo since I screwed up on my locker locks throughout school all the time.

I've never had much trouble with combination locks (keys are tough for me though) but watching Tyler try to open that door knowing he worked out for the race, I don't know if I could have pulled it open.

[Booklady1017]

On 6/26/2019 at 11:05 PM, TheRabbi said:

Colin and Christie FOR THE WIN! Love their redemption storyline this year. I think Christie is actually far more intense than him now. You could tell with the cab shenanigans. 

Surprising to have the first season in a while with no memory task. But I know at least one task/location was edited out, so who knows; maybe that had elements of it.

As a drummer for many years, I'm confident that I could have rocked that last challenge in less than 10 minutes....of course I would have needed 11 non-elimination legs to get there. Solid season.

I was happy too that C&C as I call them won. I was surprised too that there was no memory task either.

[Booklady1017]

On 6/26/2019 at 11:10 PM, Archery said:

An exciting finale and a satisfying season. Good for C&C. 

I did not think anyone would be able to do that London cab task.  

Somewhere Chip & Kim are jumping up and down and screaming with joy. 

I thought that rowing task was sooo hard!

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, Browncoat said:

So, for Becca not to be considered to be "on", the only thing she can do is stand in one spot, perfectly still, with a stoic expression on her face?

Yes.

Edited June 29, 2019 by Netfoot

[Booklady1017]

On 6/26/2019 at 11:11 PM, chaifan said:

I thought these last two legs were really good, up until the final challenge.  I am always disappointed in final challenges that aren't memory challenges.  I would have rather had the drum set task replace the fowling, and then finish with a memory challenge.

I was really happy with the final three being an all TAR finale.  I would have been happy with any of the teams winning.

I enjoyed this season more than I expected.  I was really hesitant to watch with the BB and Survivor teams.  I was so hoping for Rachel & Elissa to go in the first few episodes.  (Rachel is fingernails on a blackboard to me, always has been since her first TAR appearance.)  I do wish Becca & Floyd made it into the final 3. 

Yes I agree a memory challenge should have replaced the Fowling challenge and I wish too that Team Fun was in the final 4. 

[Booklady1017]

On 6/26/2019 at 11:46 PM, green said:

Thank God I don't look at spoilers for TAR.  It would have ruined the whole race for me.  I did spoilers for maybe two years around the times of like TAR9 or TAR10 maybe.  Wouldn't go back to that ever again.  But to each their own.

Well there is a really great, in depth interview from last week that was linked in Coin & Christie's thread by bunnyface here.  The thing that Colin said at the end of the Race here about proving what he had been doing these last years was real taking it into the pressure of the Race is explained more as well as their long, and hard fought journey of change, growth and redemption. 

I recommend this article 100%. A great way to decompress and get perceptive on our winners as real people fighting a real fight.  One of the most raw and honest ones too.  No Hollywood spin here.  But the fight was worth it.  After all what are we all here for but to change, grow and find redemption however we define it.

https://ew.com/tv/2019/06/19/amazing-race-31-colin-christie/

Thanks for sharing!

[Rachel RSL]

50 minutes ago, green said:

I would so be Leo since I screwed up on my locker locks throughout school all the time.

Same. It always took me at least 2 tries to get my locker open in high school. One time I even had to get the janitor to cut off the lock because I could not get that thing open even though it was the same lock I’d used for like 3 years. I’ve always enjoyed the Afghanimals and felt so bad for him. I rewound his explanation of what he’d been doing wrong several times and I still don’t understand it.

26 minutes ago, Booklady1017 said:

Yes I agree a memory challenge should have replaced the Fowling challenge

I would have been ok with a memory challenge somewhere in the beginning of the leg if they really felt the need to do one but it would have been boring and anticlimactic if that had been the final task, for all the reasons people have stated above.

Also, count me in for TAR:Next Gen!

Edited June 30, 2019 by Rachel RSL

[meep.meep]

6 hours ago, ML89 said:

I’m glad a few other folks were baffled by Fort Wayne because I had to stop and remember the connection to Detroit.

The clue told them to go to "Old Fort Wayne"

[kaygeeret]

I almost gave up on the season as it seemed to me that the entitled sisters were being given a winners edit and I just could not be part of it as I really dislike their "reality personas" and their 'brand(!)'

A friend talked me into staying with it and boy am I glad.  Any of the last 4 teams were worthy of a win and it was a bit heart breaking to see a couple of them go out - but, it is a race after all and most will not make it to the winners circle.

most astonishing was that I was rooting for C/C and I never thought I would hear myself saying that after their first season.  Thanks for the article explaining their transformation as it was really interesting.

Worthy winners indeed.

A great season all in all.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Booklady1017 said:

Yes I agree a memory challenge should have replaced the Fowling challenge and I wish too that Team Fun was in the final 4. 

Nothing wrong with the Final Memory Challenge... except that it's a bit passé now.  If TPTB want to stir things up that's OK too.

As for Team Fun, I'm not a huge fan, and I like them well enough as racers.  But without doubt, they are "as fake as a wedding cake."

Edited June 30, 2019 by Netfoot

[AZChristian]

As someone who was not combination-lock challenged (I have OTHER issues), my thought when Leo was struggling so much with the combination instructions was, "Did they not have lockers in junior high where they come from?"

I now apologize, seeing how many of you have confessed to similar problems with even smaller locks.  I need to brush up on being compassionate.

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, meep.meep said:

The clue told them to go to "Old Fort Wayne"

There is also an old Fort Wayne in Fort Wayne though it’s a recreation it’s called Old Fort and is older than Fort Wayne in Detroit; however, I can’t imagine any racer thinking they had to drive three hours to get to the pitstop on the last day of racing.

[Quilt Fairy]

5 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

I rewound his explanation of what he’d been doing wrong several times and I still don’t understand it.

I didn't quite understand his explanation either, because it doesn't jive with what we saw him actually doing, but he apparently got hung up on the first instruction to turn the dial 5 times counterclockwise.  That's just to clear the mechanism and you only do it once when you start, but it sounds like he was doing that between every number.

[theschnauzers]

Leo also wasn’t stopping soon enough on the first number; he went around once too often. So even if he had been following the other instructions, he’d never get it open. 

He seemed to finally realize that two hours too late and then got it open. And yes I did have that problem back in the day, but once I realized that, it wasn’t my problem, it was remembering the numbers. Turn left or right was never the problem, since the locks I had had the numbers labeled R or L.

[Jobiska]

I liked when the Afghanimals stopped to dance with the drums (or drum and lamp?) for a few minutes.  I also enjoyed Leo's "I love London!  I love this!  I love that!" contrasted with his sheer terror (not that I wanted him to feel sheer terror but you know what I mean, his extremes) on the boat.  Smart to switch right away.  What was with Jamal on the ride over there and then in the cab?  He looked like he couldn't stay awake, or was sick or something!  It didn't look like a concentrating face.  Maybe it was short but intense Killer Fatigue.

I noticed that when they first started out both Korey and Christie were pulling much more strongly with their right arms.  As a lefty, I notice that kind of thing.  We generally have to be relatively adept with our right hands/arms too, much more so than righties have to with their left side.  Luckily Colin was strong in both arms.

Interesting that the Afghanimals were eliminated in (I think it was golf?) outfits with those tweed drivers' caps as shown in the flashback, and then they were wearing similar caps in their talking heads after their leg win.  Glad they didn't think they were bad luck or something.

Enjoyed the clue guy at the castle yelling at Christie that her decipherment was gibberish.

I liked all three (heck, all four) final teams, but was quite satisfied with the C&C win.  I like the Afghanimals more than many viewers do, but they really blew it on the final leg; but they are worthy of more applause than ridiculous Eliza herself is.  To think I really liked her on her Survivor outings.  She's totally blown through that for me.

With regard to Floyd, whether or not he knows drum structure, he would be better able to concentrate during a cacaphony than some based on his past experience.

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 6/28/2019 at 6:28 AM, theschnauzers said:

You didn’t need a photographic memory, for the taxi license task, you needed an audiographic memory (ability to remember everything you hear.

The teams seemed to be using some kind of visual input as well as the driver's spoken words, because Leo kept mispronouncing Gloucester in a way that it's difficult to imagine you could get to based on hearing someone say "Gloster".

[SomeTameGazelle]

21 minutes ago, Jobiska said:

Enjoyed the clue guy at the castle yelling at Christie that her decipherment was gibberish.

Did we get to hear her guess? I remember her saying that she didn't think it made sense but thought she should try in case they were British words she wasn't familiar with.

[kili]

Quote

For the sake of information, it wasn't all three TAR teams helping each other and deliberately excluding Nicole and Victor. 

Christie revealed that she even helped Victor with the decoding. Korey thought he'd figured it out and went to try his luck with the general. While he was gone, Victor and Christie worked together. Christie pointed out to Victor the mistake he was making, but she still couldn't see the one she herself was making. The next thing she knew, Korey was back and Victor was running out having completed it. She doesn't hold it against Victor that he didn't return the favour.

The TAR teams didn't exclude Victor and Nicole, they just didn't have many opportunities to assist them. 

Colin started a timer after Leo and Jamal left, while Victor and Korey finished shortly afterwards, Christie took 1 hour and 47 minutes to come out. They said they were glad to have the helicopter ride to re-group.

[Booklady1017]

On 6/27/2019 at 12:08 AM, aemom said:

I never thought that I would want C&C to win, but I did. I would have been okay with T&K as well.

I've always felt that the Afghanimals are obnoxious as all hell, and that opinion has not changed. I would have preferred N&V in the final. She's whiny, but never mean.

I'm pretty sure thay they edited out a RB because there are always two in the final leg - one for each player to complete. 

Good tasks, but I was surprised that there wasn't a memory challenge. 

The Afghanimals were fun to watch but definitely wouldn’t have deserved to win because they played so sloppy this season and they annoy me at times.

[NUguy514]

2 hours ago, kili said:

Christie revealed that she even helped Victor with the decoding. Korey thought he'd figured it out and went to try his luck with the general. While he was gone, Victor and Christie worked together. Christie pointed out to Victor the mistake he was making, but she still couldn't see the one she herself was making. The next thing she knew, Korey was back and Victor was running out having completed it. She doesn't hold it against Victor that he didn't return the favour.

The TAR teams didn't exclude Victor and Nicole, they just didn't have many opportunities to assist them. 

Colin started a timer after Leo and Jamal left, while Victor and Korey finished shortly afterwards, Christie took 1 hour and 47 minutes to come out. They said they were glad to have the helicopter ride to re-group.

Yes, I assume you watched the Team Fun video with Colin and Christie as well?  I was just coming on here to post most of this, and I thought it was interesting that the producers didn't show Christie helping Victor; however, she did, so those complaining about Nicole and Victor being deliberately excluded or ganged up on can have a bunch of seats.

The video itself is long, but it's really good (I hope it's OK to post it here!): 

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, kili said:

Christie revealed that she even helped Victor with the decoding. Korey thought he'd figured it out and went to try his luck with the general. While he was gone, Victor and Christie worked together.

Thank you! That explains so much I thought it was a weird edit because it looked like Victor had only been in there for a few minutes before they got it..

[alihart41]

49 minutes ago, NUguy514 said:

Yes, I assume you watched the Team Fun video with Colin and Christie as well?  I was just coming on here to post most of this, and I thought it was interesting that the producers didn't show Christie helping Victor; however, she did, so those complaining about Nicole and Victor being deliberately excluded or ganged up on can have a bunch of seats.

The video itself is long, but it's really good (I hope it's OK to post it here!): 

Plus, Tyler and Korey have said in various post-Race interviews and on Nicole and Victor's podcast that the only reason they wanted Nic and Vic out was because they thought Nic and Vic were a stronger team than the Afghanimals and they would have a better shot of beating the Afghanimals, which given what happened on the final leg, they were right (they were always close with Colin and Christie, so they wanted to be in the final with them). The fact that the Afghanimals were also a Race team conveniently fit the all-Race final three narrative that everyone ran with (no pun intended).

So it makes sense that Christie was willing to help Victor, but not Korey. I also don't blame Nic and Vic for feeling excluded. They are human. It sucks ass when you sit down at the lunch table and everyone is ignoring you. And I don't think they complained about it that much, based on what was shown, and if they were constantly complaining, I feel like the show would've included more of it to play into the all-Race final three storyline, just like how it didn't include Christie helping Victor to build up that "divide." When they realized what was happening, they pointed it out and said it sucked, but they were never shown to be harping on it every two minutes like plenty of teams have done before when they just can't let something go.

ETA: Just wanted to clarify that Tyler and Korey were on Nic and Vic's podcast before the finale aired (it was their live recording at the finale party), but they talked about how they thought the Afghanimals were a weak team and Nic and Vic were strong, which was partially why they voted for Nic and Vic at the U-Turn Vote. Anyway, here's the podcast if anyone who hasn't listened wants to (they're the last interview), and here are some of their interviews in which they talked about it.

Edited June 30, 2019 by alihart41

[chitowngirl]

On 6/29/2019 at 2:07 PM, AZChristian said:

They weren't really "dancing."  Becca was in the frame with Floyd, and moving to music . . . but she was so busy playing to the camera that his presence was superfluous.  

Others might have played to the camera also. It’s the director who makes the choice as to who he puts in there. He didn’t have to put the sour look of Eliza? in the finale. It was a choice.

[TiredMe]

On 6/27/2019 at 8:22 AM, vousviou said:

The Heidelburg Project is being dismantled, supposedly for some new phase, although I'm not sure what it is.

I’m disappointed to read they went there and didn’t show it. I was in Detroit just a few weeks ago for the first time and visited there. Would have been cool to see it on the show.

On 6/29/2019 at 2:31 AM, amazingracefan said:

Did everyone see Team 'Fun' dancing together on the mat at the end for the cameras?  They have to look fun.

As someone who likes team Fun, I thought it was pretty obvious she was only concerned with where the camera was.

regarding Colin and Christie, I started watching TaR right after their season so I only know the ox situation from the million and one times it has been mentioned in the forums. I liked these two just fine so I’m ok with them winning, but I admit that when Christie said something about telepathically talking to the drum set (or something along those lines), I decided that I wanted them to lose. Lol  I feel bad for Tyler and Korey because they were so good all season.

[Quilt Fairy]

8 hours ago, Jobiska said:

Enjoyed the clue guy at the castle yelling at Christie that her decipherment was gibberish.

Did you catch what he said when she came back?  "I hope you got it right this time, since you pulled me away from my lunch." 

[Haleth]

55 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did you catch what he said when she came back?  "I hope you got it right this time, since you pulled me away from my lunch." 

Perhaps he’s related to the cranky Dutch “you’re an idiot” guy. 

[pennben]

Don’t remember if it was shown, but in an interview Christie said he also wadded it up and tossed it at her. Ha! She herself knew the first attempt was gibberish so was amused (at least in hindsight postwin. 

Edited July 1, 2019 by pennben

[jumper sage]

On 6/27/2019 at 2:46 PM, Archery said:

I heard Korey and Tyler gloat that this was their "hometown" and immediately thought, "Frank and Margarita would love to chat with you about that." 

OMG!  Me too!  I think there are more than just the two teams for the "Hometown Curse".  Tara and Will and the 2 newscasters come to mind.  I know there are more.

[amazingracefan]

9 hours ago, Haleth said:

Perhaps he’s related to the cranky Dutch “you’re an idiot” guy. 

Was he that cranky?  Teams were creating some havoc in the canals and I think some people might have said far more.  It was entertaining though.

I thought it was pretty obvious the remark at the codebreaking was either scripted or an attempt at humour.

The Winston Churchill mimic I thought was a pretty embarrassing.  Though not as bad as possibly the most cringeworthy moment in the early seasons when they had some pretend business man in a bowler hat giving the  most outdated cliche I've seen.

[aemom]

On 6/29/2019 at 9:18 PM, AZChristian said:

As someone who was not combination-lock challenged (I have OTHER issues), my thought when Leo was struggling so much with the combination instructions was, "Did they not have lockers in junior high where they come from?"

I now apologize, seeing how many of you have confessed to similar problems with even smaller locks.  I need to brush up on being compassionate.

I think that watching The People's Court tends to dull our compassion at times. 😉

[Kel Varnsen]

I liked that finale. The ending was super intense and I liked that it wasn't a typical memory challenge. The repetitive  7 Nation Army made it even harder. I also liked how the vinyl challenge actually made it possible for passing, I really thought it would be a just do it and leave kind of task with no opportunity to change positions. Although considering how much of the last leg was Jack White/White Stripes themed, I thought it was funny that they had to build a drum set. The White Stripes were hardly known for their drumming. Although I guess building a guitar wouldn't have really worked.

As for London I was impressed how much Colin crushed the rowing task. Especiall with Christie dragging her oars. The cab task was cool too. My wife and I honeymooned in London and our hotel was just a couple of blocks from the Gloucester Road underground staion, so we used that station almost every day.

[chaifan]

3 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

As for London I was impressed how much Colin crushed the rowing task. Especiall with Christie dragging her oars. The cab task was cool too. My wife and I honeymooned in London and our hotel was just a couple of blocks from the Gloucester Road underground staion, so we used that station almost every day.

Christie kept her oars in the water for balance - it was the right thing to do.  Watch Becca & Floyd's finale recap video (posted a few posts above).  Colin and Christie are with them, and one thing they said that their rowing "coach" at the task told them that the way they did the task was pretty much the only way anyone could have finished it in time. 

[green]

Yeah and a poster who has rowed a lot posted a few pages back and explained that Christie was the one balancing the shell preventing it from flipping over and she was suppose to keep just a small bit of the oar in the water for that purpose while preventing too much drag. 

Which, in turn, is extremely tiring on the arms to say the least since she had to hold the oars in an exact position the whole time while slightly adjusting if the shell started to tip one way or the other.

I do wish they had explained that in the episode though because to most of us non-rowers it looked like she was just sitting back doing nothing like Nicole on the tandem bike the previous leg.

[greyhorse]

On ‎6‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 7:35 AM, vousviou said:

There's a little bit of an irony of C&C beating T&K -- if Korey hadn't given Christie so much help decoding the message, it's possible C&C would have been knocked out in the second to last leg. And then in a final I think T&K would have had a bit more of an advantage against Victor and Nicole.

I didn't think Korey was that helpful at all.  If you're going to "work together" on something, once one person figures it out, you're supposed to share it with the other, no?  Korey basically just booked it out of there, "just do this and that".  I thought it wasn't really fair.

I was seriously impressed with those guys remembering the 22 directions/landmarks.  That would seem dang impossible.

Colin rocked the rowing.  Very impressive.  That takes a lot of strength and coordination.

The Afghanimals considered themselves great racers, but I just didn't see it.  Sitting down out of frustration when you can't figure out the combo lock?  How does that help?  I wonder how many tries it took him and how long he was there.  Seemed like just a simple case of following directions.

We got too many confessionals with a smug Tyler that I was sure they won.  I think we only saw maybe one or two of Colin and Christie, Colin was talking about the immense pressure knowing that whoever finished the drums first would win, and it looked like his eyes were a little teary so I was sure they lost.

[ML89]

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

Christie kept her oars in the water for balance - it was the right thing to do.  Watch Becca & Floyd's finale recap video (posted a few posts above).  Colin and Christie are with them, and one thing they said that their rowing "coach" at the task told them that the way they did the task was pretty much the only way anyone could have finished it in time. 

1 hour ago, green said:

Yeah and a poster who has rowed a lot posted a few pages back and explained that Christie was the one balancing the shell preventing it from flipping over and she was suppose to keep just a small bit of the oar in the water for that purpose while preventing too much drag. 

Exactly, Christie was doing the right thing. The oars should skim over the water, blade held flat on it so it skims. It's done often when you're training on a crew boat - probably what most folks have seen is 8 person sweep rowing, where a person only has one oar. When part of the boat is rowing, then everyone not rowing holds their oar out across the water in place the way Christie was holding her two. Keeps the boat balanced and you're basically out of the way of whoever is rowing. It's digging your oar into the water, with the blade perpendicular that causes drag or the boat to completely stop. 

Having two people rowing a scull is hard to get going even for people who've had a bit of training - it's a lot of coordination. For people who have little idea of the stroke, well, that's why you got people flipping - they didn't have their oars out to the oarlock, or moving at the same time, and were holding their oars way too high, which caused them to dig their oars in the water. Plus those were rowing shells and they are not much wider than a person is across and very lightweight so they were tippy to begin with. 

[greyflannel]

On 6/30/2019 at 11:13 AM, NUguy514 said:

Yes, I assume you watched the Team Fun video with Colin and Christie as well?  I was just coming on here to post most of this, and I thought it was interesting that the producers didn't show Christie helping Victor; however, she did, so those complaining about Nicole and Victor being deliberately excluded or ganged up on can have a bunch of seats.

The video itself is long, but it's really good (I hope it's OK to post it here!): 

I am one of those who had the opinion that the three TAR teams were excluding Victor and Nicole because they weren't a TAR team. For myself, I based my opinion on what was shown on this episode of the show. I didn't base it on podcasts, Twitter, interviews, or anything else. I then posted my opinion in this thread, the thread for this episode of the show. If there is information out there that goes against what was shown in the episode, then it's nice for people to pass on that information.  Maybe that would change some opinions on what happened. But to insult people by inviting them to have a bunch of seats, because information gathered from beyond the show's episode casts a different light on things seems a bit rude.