The Amazing Race -- All-Purpose Thread

I agree completely with this assessment.

But I also wonder what happened between Corrine/Eliza and Rachel/Elissa. They seemed like they weren't exactly friends, and then suddenly they went to I CAN'T EVEN STAND NEXT TO THEM FOR FIVE SECONDS without any real build up or conflict. Other than the fact that the Survivor girls were bitches and Rachel is suuuuuuper fake, I didn't see any reasoning for that level of animosity.

 

I am surprised how long they stayed in Vietnam Nam. Can’t recall off the top of my head if it’s unusual or not to do 2 complete episodes in one country.

Colin seems sincere in his comments. Looks like life has turned him into a non raging bag of dicks that he once was.

 

No TAR this week - three hours of Survivor instead. Bummer.

 

I stopped watching Survivor a few seasons ago after being a pretty faithful viewer before than.

I certainly can't imagine watching three hours of it in one night at this point. Is it a season finale? I wouldn't think so right now.

 

Two-hour season finale and a one-hour lookback. I watched Survivor for the first two or three seasons and got tired of it.

 

I think our reactions are true, and show the glaring differences between Survivor and TAR. Survivor is built around nastiness, and as I posted before, eventually can't help but bring out the worst in people, while TAR is intended to be the opposite, and, generally speaking, has an opposite, much more positive effect on participants, and even viewers.

I can only think of one winner of Survivor who I actually liked and who seemed to come off well while he played (Ethan), and only one of guy who I don't think ever won the whole thing but who I always liked and respected because he usually just competed, straight-up, and won a lot of the events along the way with his athleticism (Ozzie). I saw Boston Rob eventually as a winning balance of strategy, skill and charm that you couldn't help but respect, and that you could eventually come to like.

Otherwise, everyone else was forgettable, or else, memorable in a bad way.

 

And now the good news ... back-to-back episodes on Wednesday - 8-10 p.m. (Eastern).

 

Ok, I had to split the episodes up in two nights because I got home too late last night to watch both. I thought it was funny that they made it seem like they were going to zip-line off of the Burj Khalifa and then it was a VR thing. Also, Becca and Floyd winning and the freestyling with Phil on the mat was all sorts of awesome. I seriously love that team - they are all about having fun and enjoying the experience, which is what it's supposed to be about.

I really enjoyed Uganda. I like the African legs - they almost always give the teams some perspective of the things we take for granted in the first world. Also, that Rolex looked DELICIOUS, I want one! I would have made it and then asked if I could take it to go! I would also have been bomb at that drum puzzle at the end...that sort of thing is right up my alley. It cracked me up as well when Colin and Christie's wood pile fell down and Colin acknowledged that "season 5 Colin would have lost it right there". He's right. I really hated them in Season 5 but they are so much more of a team, laid back, chill and just rolling with it this time around. Also, super happy to see Tyler and Korey win a leg. I wasn't sure there if Janelle was ever gonna figure out that she wasn't looking for a watch.

My dudes are FINALLY pulling it together. Those top 6 teams are gonna be in an all-out brawl once Crying Rachel is gone.

Pool update (for both legs):
Iron_Chet - Colin and Christie (TAR) - 56
WCIBN - Becca and Floyd (TAR) - 56
WolvEagle - Leo and Jamal (TAR) - 52
TigerVols - Tyler and Korey (TAR) - 47
MTM - Nicole and Victor (Big Brother) - 41
Wenders - Chris and Bret (Survivor) - 28
bumpy mcgee - Rachel and Elissa (TAR/Big Brother) - 24
*Huggy - Janelle and Britney (Big Brother) - 21
*WriteThinking - Corinne and Eliza (Survivor) - 14
*Rupert and Laura (Survivor) - 3
*Art & JJ (TAR) - 1

*Team has been eliminated

 

This episode was a study in how you can't necessarily take anything at face value in the race, or the clues. There could always be misdirection and unexpected twists that you need to figure out, and that you might not. You also need to be hyper-aware when looking at your surroundings, and looking for something. Or else.

It could be right in front of your face, and you might see it until it's too late. It was like Victor said how the Rolex/Rolleggs sailed right over his head, too, at first. And the fact that they called that breakfast burrito a Rolex is amazing.

I felt so sorry for Janelle. You'd think she was perfectly right to be looking for a watch, right? The thing she did wrong was to not be aware and observant enough to notice the sign on that vendor stand, though. Also shows how you just can't fall too far behind, either, because then you're alone while all the other teams, and maybe clues to or help in what you should be doing, are already gone. I mean, I'm sure if she'd seen all the other teams cooking their Rolex's she might have given a second thought to what she should be looking for and doing.

The same was true of Rachel and Elissa with the VR task. They think they're being smarter, and faster, than everybody else by deciding to do that just because they think they're just going to be jumping off the building and getting done. I laughed a little at them when got there and realized, "uh, oh, this is actually going to take some time." It was hilarious how Elissa was so embarrassed at Rachel's crying when she thought they were goners.

Anyway, a lot of "gotcha" moments in this episode.

I thought the dancing challenge, and having to find someone else who had the beat down, in that big, busy crowd, would have been the hardest thing for me this week. But I knew Floyd would ace that.

I have to say, I was envious of all of them, doing that zip-line ride over the city of Dubai. What a place that was! You talk about modern marvels...They were all over the place, and to see them from above in the midst of the night lights must have been amazing. My two favorite teams of this season won the legs this week, so I thoroughly enjoyed these episodes.

 

I wanted so badly to see Rachel and Elissa eliminated tonight -- so much so that, by the end of the episode, I was openly rooting for Chris and Bret to beat them to the mat.

Speaking of the mat, the scenes being made there this season have been leaving a bad taste and taking away from the show, in my opinion.

And, Switzerland, a place I've always wanted to go to, didn't disappoint. So beautiful. I was glad most of the teams seemed to appreciate it, and tried to take everything in. I need to make some serious plans to go there.

 

What’s with all the non elimination legs? This is three out of five episodes, if I’m remembering correctly.

But I’m happy this time because it keeps my team alive.

And man, those Reilly sisters are awful.

 

Switzerland is GORGEOUS. I wish we had more emphasis this leg on the actual Race and activities. But no, we needed 15 minutes of yapping about a U-Turn that never happened and Rachel and Elissa trying to double-cross everybody on the Race. I'm over it, they need to go.

Also, remember the glory days when U-Turns used to happen AFTER a Detour? I hate how the U-Turn now appears before the Detour. Before, you really needed to push and then there was that "ok, who do we think is behind us? Well X and X were at our Detour, so we know they're behind us" and you had the fun when people U-Turned people who had already finished and moved on. They also used to limit your U-Turns, you could only do it once per Race, so you really had to plan it out.

I'm curious to see how the voting for who gets U-Turned goes next week. The number of bridges that the sisters have burned may absolutely bust them next week. (Also I'd really like Rachel to not surpass the Cowboys and the Globetrotters for most legs run. Bah.)

ANYWAY to hell with the drama, I would be all over the Canyon jump and the canyoning in Switzerland. Get me there now.

Pool update (for both legs):
TigerVols - Tyler and Korey (TAR) - 64
Iron_Chet - Colin and Christie (TAR) - 62
WCIBN - Becca and Floyd (TAR) - 61
WolvEagle - Leo and Jamal (TAR) - 56
MTM - Nicole and Victor (Big Brother) - 42
Wenders - Chris and Bret (Survivor) - 30
bumpy mcgee - Rachel and Elissa (TAR/Big Brother) - 27
*Huggy - Janelle and Britney (Big Brother) - 21
*WriteThinking - Corinne and Eliza (Survivor) - 14
*Rupert and Laura (Survivor) - 3
*Art & JJ (TAR) - 1

*Team has been eliminated