Amazing Race #10

[Spiderman]

Anyone watching? EricBess?

That was such a harsh twist in the beginning, having that team get eliminated "right away". I was thinking they'd get the best time to leave or something.

The fish eyes must not have been too bad (or there were too many teams to focus on for the editing) since no one really had a problem with it.

I liked how the cheerleaders thought they could do the dancing/coordination without much of a problem but the gay guys beat them first.

 

[EricBess]

Yeah, I think it would have been a cooler "twist" if they got something good. Just kicking another team off that early feels to me like they are trying to save money by cutting down on the number of teams as quickly as possible.

I did notice that he said that 8 of the pitstops would be eliminations and I thought that was odd because they start with 12 and usually have a "final 3". Once the elimination happened, it made more sense. And he did say there would be twists, so you could easily argue that they had all the clues in front of them to realize this would happen. But I still didn't think it was very "intriging" as twists go. I would rather have twists that make you think, "wow, that's cool..."

There were a couple of people that commented on how gross the fish eyes were (there were others that seemed to like them), but there were also a couple of people that put all the eyes onto the plate first and then just downed them all at once. I think the real issue was that it may have been gross, but there really wasn't that much to eat. Not like some where they've had to eat a huge bowl of bugs, for example.

They didn't really show much of the dancing, so it was hard to tell how difficult it was, but yeah, that was funny. It was more of a control thing than really being physical.

The whole "outside bricks" thing was kind of cool. It didn't seem to hold people up too much, but it did get a few people frustrated right off. A good start at seeing who is good at keeping their composure under pressure, all things considered.

It didnt seem like they really cared about the pattern itself as long as the hole was filled. If so, I would have expected at least one to be slightly off and have to juggle a few bricks. They might have just all been careful about that, though.

One other thought...My wife commented that it was unfortunate that both the muslim friends and the Idian couple were the first two teams eliminated. With all the talk about Survivor dividing up by race this season, be interesting to see if there are any comments...

 

[Spiderman]

I didn't hear about the "8 elimination pitstops" but just having such an early elimination kinda sucks

I think they did care about the pattern but it was such a no-brainer to follow that no one really had any trouble with it. It was those big outer blocks and once the guy models figured it out, everyone else saw it and rushed to get 'em.

It was unfortunate but unlike Survivor, the show itself didn't "do" anything to them artificially - they were just the last teams to arrive (and the Asian guys were the next-to-last before the Muslim guys). Kinda of funny though since the Muslim guys were the first out of the starting point (although I think they got lost or went the wrong way to the airport).

 

[Spiderman]

We've actually been watching this "on time" but I forgot to update the thread the last two episodes...

Can't remember a lot about the 9/24 episode except the cheerleaders got eliminated.

Actually, can't remember a lot about the 10/1 episode either - nothing really stands out. Everyone is playing nice in this season, so not a lot of drama yet.

 

[turgy22]

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..(O)

With a shuttlecock to the head, Spidey is eliminated!!!

Oh, the irony...

Okay, starting tomorrow (Thursday 9/21), all forums are eligible EXCEPT the Games Run forum...

Tag Guard

 

[Spiderman]

Doh!

 

[EricBess]

Yeah, so far there really haven't been any stand outs as either good or bad as far as the teams go. The only thing that really happened was the father/daughter randomly finding the other challenge in the detour. I think that the time it took for that to happen and the time wasted without money probably cost them in the end more than even the time it took to do the detour.

 

[Spiderman]

Yeah... and ooo, the gay guys might have gotten eliminated due to their error about the motorbikes if the father/daughter team was on the ball with everyone else...

It kinda flashed by, but I would have thought when the father/daughter team stopped to ask for directions and then got separated from the group, one would have asked while the other kept an eye on the rest. But I guess both got absorbed in the direction-asking and lost track of the group and it cost them.

 

[EricBess]

Yes, that seemed to be pretty close, but it's tough to tell since they manipulate the time lines...

 

[Spiderman]

Yeah... well, we know all of the coal people beat the 30 minute timeline, so if the father/daughter had done it, unless something drastic happened, I can't believe they would fall that far behind the other groups who would have made it in with them. I mean, unless they did what the Asian team did and not make them all big enough to begin with, they probably would have finished around the same time as the others.

 

[EricBess]

I see what you mean...If they hadn't gotten lost in the first place, that certainly would have been the case.

Hard to say how much longer the bird cage must have taken over the coal or if it was simply they spent so much time searching.

 

[Spiderman]

Saw Sunday's episode...

Some teams are finally starting to get on our nerves. Specifically, the beauty queens... they're not outright nasty but do seem to play slightly underhanded, like the "butting in front of the junk" thing. Kinda like when they did the travel agent, although there they had an excuse - Tom and Terry kept walking (?) But it's a pattern...

Rob and Kim - they might make "good" TV with their arguing, but it's gets annoying... especially with Rob's super-competiveness and either pouting when things don't go his (their) way or gloating when it does. Too much drama.

I would have said Tom & Terry but they're gone anyway, so it doesn't matter...

Peter and Sarah - Her complaining about the climbing rope task. I know there's a lot of pressure and she probably didn't know what exactly was the task when they opened the Roadblock but still, "Needs strong arms and legs"? Still a clue and if she wants to "prove" herself because of her disability, she needs to suck it up when the challenge presents itself.

So far I'm rooting for the Asian team - it looks like they're having fun and haven't done any shady things yet.

 

[EricBess]

We missed the first part, so I didn't see anything up through when the teams were actually climbing. I was wondering, however, what the "clue" to the roadblock must have been to actually have Sarah doing it instead of Peter...

Sarah seems to be to have an attitude of, "I've gotten through this, so I don't have to put up with anything from anyone else" when it comes to how she talks about Peter. I don't know how long they've been together, but she seems determined to find reasons to split up. I agree that she complained quite a bit on the rock climb and then got upset later because he made a comment out of frustration about wanting to quit. I don't think she realizes that she's a bit hypocritical.

Not sad to see Tom and Terry go...

The rowing was quite interesting, though...there were a few teams that "got it" pretty quickly. I will say that with the type of oars they were using, the teams that tried to get two people rowing at the same time were just asking to go in circles.

I didn't see the butting part with the beauty queens, but I do agree with you that the asian team seems to be the most with it in terms of cooperation and overall ability. The other two-guy team seems okay, but haven't really stood out either way yet.

 

[Spiderman]

As far as I know, the clue just said "Roadblock. Who's got strong arms and legs?" I think Sarah feels the need to prove herself unnecessarily.

I'm not sure what went on to make Peter say he'd like to quit - probably all that rowing and then perhaps they spent a long time at the pots trying to get them up <shrug>

Yeah, the rowing was definitely funny. And now that I'm thinking about it, the beauty queens sure are careless about their clues... not reading closely about what to do (i.e. go to their junk) and then letting it (and it looked like others) get all messed up. Not a good way to try to win a race.

The other two guys and the black moms are okay, neither against but neither for, at least as strong as the Asian guys

 

[Spiderman]

Last night's show: Peter is definitely getting annoying. Not sure how it didn't come out before - maybe because there were so many teams to focus on. But he's definitely not likable...

The Cho brothers are too nice, I think... waiting for the black ladies to get over the wall during the crocodile Detour? What's up with that? Just get on with it...

Good thing this was a non-elim leg for Mary and Joe(?), I like the idea of the new "penalty" rather than them losing their possessions. It definitely will be tough though. Tough luck about getting what turned out to be the last flight, although I think that if they had chosen the crocodile Detour, they might have come out ahead of the male models. But we'll never know...

 

[EricBess]

Yeah, I was thinking a lot of the same stuff... The beauty queens are way competative and Peter's all but trying to join their team. The end result is that both teams are annoying. It could just be me, but I get the impression that Peter is paying more attentiong to them than he is to his own teammate...

The crocodiles were definately the right detour choice yesterday. The painting didn't appear too tough, but seriously time consuming. Plus, it seemed like it was pretty easy to miss a circle and have to redo huge section. The way they presented it, it was always close, but it was pretty dark by the time Mary and Joe (also ? - don't have time to look it up at the moment) hit the driving school. I suspect that the two models were likewise a decent amount behind. Going to have to pay attention next week to see what time they get to leave.

As for the new penalty, his original, "you have to come in first" was pretty jaw dropping, but then when he said, "1/2 hour penalty if you don't"...well, that still can be pretty brutal as we saw with the gay guys a few weeks back, but there is just as often a couple of hours between when the teams finish anyway. More than anything, it will depend on the types of challenges and the types of catchup points that they have next week.

Of course, they seem to frequently be one of the slower teams anyway, so this probably will be pretty tough.

I wonder how much of the change has to do with not wanting people to have to beg money is an already poor country...Probably a good change politically.

 

[Spiderman]

I'm not sure if it was changed because of that... it seemed like in past seasons, more often than not, the team would beg from tourists or their fellow racers. I'm thinking that it just didn't seem like that big of a deal; teams were anticipating it (usually) and loading up on their clothes and it didn't really seem to affect anything - they usually got enough money to make it through without any hardship.

 

[Spiderman]

Saw Sunday's episode last night...

The Cho brothers' niceness are killing me! I'm so happy they came in the middle of the pack after being last from the Roadblock challenge.

And what's up with David and Mary trying to decide whether to do the Fast Forward? You've got to come in first, so of course you've got to do the fast forward!

Kinda glad Peter and Sarah got eliminated... not sure why Peter didn't stop and look at the map to figure out where to go or whatever instead of blaming Sarah.

 

[EricBess]

Yeah, thought the same thing. He's driving around for 1/2 an hour and he can't just pull over to give a second opinion on the map, but he's more than willing to tell her she needs to pay attention...Of course, that's fairly typical of a lot of teams I think.

At this point, I really hope that karma starts shining and the Cho brother's win. They mentioned an "alliance", but to me, it seems like the Cho brothers are determined to help the moms and the coalminer, while those two teams will sing their praises, but aren't really competative.

Of course, if the Cho brothers can manage to get themselves and those two teams to the final three, they should be able to win it easily. I just hope they don't get themselves eliminated in the process.

This has got to be one of the most cutthroat seasons I've ever seen. Everyone except the Chos are just looking out for themselves. "Hurry, get out of the bead shop before they see us..."

I really liked the "I'm illegally parked and need to get back to my car...". Sure Peter...just suddenly realized that, did you? Couldn't be you found the clue over in that direction...If some of these teams started to actually try helping another team, that might be the best way to mislead...."they said it was this way, so we better go somewhere else..."

I'm surprised the beauty queens didn't say anything to the Chos when they got back from talking with David and Mary...After all, it was the Chos that convinced them not to do the fast forward. They must have had some comment...

Did you catch the comment on the climbing? The Cho brother that wasn't climbing said, "we're not going home today" and the guy of the couple said, "Yes you are, Cho" or something like that. Surprised me a bit.

And David and Mary could have opted not to do the Fast Forward, but it would have meant that they needed to beat at least one team by 1/2 hour. But I agree. Since you don't know what the final challenges are going to be, you don't really know how close the teams are going to be together, so 1/2 hour is tough.

I do wonder...since the rest period is 12 hours from the time they complete the leg, do legs with Fast Forwards tend to be shorter so that the person doing the Fast Forward isn't so far ahead??? I remember a few where two went for the Fast Forward and the team not getting it actually managed to get back into things, so I want to think that's not the case, but it seems like that much of a lead could be huge for the next leg also.

 

[Spiderman]

Well, my wife and I were saying that David and Mary should give the first place prize they won to the Cho's since they let them have the FF and convinced the beauty queens not to go for it. It does seem pretty one-sided right now, with the Cho brothers pretty much doing everything for the other two teams.

They didn't show any comments from the beauty queens to the Cho's; maybe they didn't realize that the Cho's gave the FF to David and Mary. They'll probably find out at the rest stop though and maybe we'll see something next week.

I didn't catch the comment.

I don't know if they're shorter or not; I seem to remember that in some seasons, the teams could get back in it if they couldn't do the FF and others, they couldn't. Since Peter and Sarah found the FF site while driving around, it didn't seem to be too far away, but maybe they just traveled around the whole city and just happened on it on the other side