The Amazing Race -- All-Purpose Thread

TAR once again reminds me why I don't want to go to India. Just seems too hot and crowded for me, though living in a part of Toronto with a huge Indian population I have developed quite the taste for Indian food.

 

It felt like a lot of topsy-turvy results in the India episode, which I enjoyed a lot.

Mural/picture copying challenges seem to always be tough, and my team was lucky to get through to the next leg after spending so much time on this one before switching detours. I guess they came to the mat from a different direction than Joe and Ian?

Because I would've like to see more of that foot race, which I though Joe and Ian would win once they got in front in the rickshaw race. A rickshaw race! So fun and unique. I had the sense of a real horse race while it was going on.

Several surprises made out of better-than-expected finishes, particularly for Todd and Ashlie (fifth place) and Rob and Corey (sixth), who I feared for the longest time might end up at the bottom after all Corey's struggles with the pots-balancing act. I really like that team and was dreading the possibility of them being eliminated. Middle-of-the-pack was testament to a really good job rallying by them.

The elimination of Jocelyn and Victor seems to have really opened things up, and it made for an interesting leg this week.

If teams are smart, they will U-turn Steve and Anna Leigh when they get the chance next week.

 

I'm not sure how to feel about the U-Turn "Vote" thing. Also, Steve and Anna Leigh? Don't be salty or be like "teams showed their colors" - they HAD to vote for someone and voted for the strong team that had won a crapton of legs. Like, U-turns and Yields and whatnot is not personal (most of the time), it's how the game is played.

Greg and John are a very sneaky good team. I feel like they're getting a winners edit as well. Morgan and Lena could also surprise some people...when they put together a strong leg, they're a really good team.


Pool:
WolvEagle: Steve & Anna Leigh | 69
MTM: Greg & John | 57
TigerVols: Rob & Corey | 52
*bumpy mcgee: Jocelyn & Victor | 48
Wenders: Ashlie & Todd | 44
Huggy: Robbin & Chelsea | 39
UNC Grad: Joel & Garrett | 39
Write Thinking: Morgan & Lena | 35
Mrs. Vols: Malaina & Andrea | 26
*nietsroob17: Joe & Ian | 25
*tea and ease: Liam & Yeremi | 22
*Elizabeth & Iliana | 3
*Alexandra & Sheridan | 1
*team has been eliminated

 

Rob and Corey might be going down as one of my all-time favorite teams. Rob is so cool-natured and inspirational and isn't all "woe is me" with his disability, and they remind me a little of Dave and Connor -- the father/son pair where dad tore his ACL on their first season, then they won the all-star season.

 

The U-Turn vote was bad strategy. Why U-Turn a team so that it finishes mid pack instead of top of the pack? Target a good team that had finished mid pack last leg and try to knock them out.

 

Teams did the right thing in going after Steve and Anna Leigh. The goal was to try to eliminate them by making them do both detours and hope they could not complete them in good time. But Steve and Anna Leigh just proved how good a team they were by being able to finish mid-pack, instead of last. I doubt any other team could've done that. But what if they'd just had the equivalent of a bad taxi driver, as Liam and Yeremi did? Steve and Anna Leigh would've been out, and a really good elimination completed.

The surprises of the week, to me, were Joel and Garrett, and Morgan and Lena.

I did actively wonder just how hot it was when the teams were there in India? And what the humidity level was?

 

One of the fascinating aspects to me is the start times. This week, the father-daughter started more than an hour ahead of the competition.

 

It seems if not for the mistake of not bringing the first task receipt back to the vendor, they may have been able to even win the leg.

 

At least I knew how to pronounce one of those mustards. Thanks, Chuck!

And it's been a good while since a team fell THAT far back in the race as the pink team did.

 

It’s been awhile since there’s been an on course Philimination.

 

I was also trying to think of the last on-course Philimination. Looks like from the wiki there were 2 in TAR30: Alex and Conor and Lucas and Brittany.

But seriously, how far out of their way did Malaina and Andrea drive to find the wrong ferry, then the wrong ferry again, then the right ferry?

I think just about every team needed the circus task. They were all a bit frazzled and needed a fun easy thing to do for half an hour. Also, I would absolutely have chosen the mustard task over that soccer dart thing. Now, someone give me a pretzel to eat the mustard with. Also, Joel & Garrett deciding to keep very positive when they were sure they were in last place was refreshing.
We have a new pool leader!

Pool Update:
MTM: Greg & John | 75
WolvEagle: Steve & Anna Leigh | 73
TigerVols: Rob & Corey | 57
Wenders: Ashlie & Todd | 51
*bumpy mcgee: Jocelyn & Victor | 48
Huggy: Robbin & Chelsea | 46
UNC Grad: Joel & Garrett | 41
Write Thinking: Morgan & Lena | 38
*Mrs. Vols: Malaina & Andrea | 27
*nietsroob17: Joe & Ian | 25
*tea and ease: Liam & Yeremi | 22
*Elizabeth & Iliana | 3
*Alexandra & Sheridan | 1
*team has been eliminated

 

I felt bad for Malaina and Andrea. That leg was a colossal nightmare for them. They're really likable people.

Speaking of likable (or not), and I know that it's my team, but Anna Leigh is a real piece of work. I felt like Steve was trying really hard not to go off on her. I forgot whether she said she was engaged or married, but heaven help that guy.

In a season of likable people, she isn't.

Oh, and Wenders, you still have me in first even though I shouldn't be.