Amazing Race 16

Woo! Go Cowboys! Man, they are on a roll... so of course everyone starts the same after the airplane ride, but they get a cab (for once) and whip through the challenges.

I'm struck at how Jordan and his brother always complain about how other teams (i.e. cowboys) always seem to do better at the challenges. Stop complaining and buckle down and do it! Cord had the right idea when, after his puzzle pieces were blowing away, just started doing something about it and finding weights, rather than complaining like Brett.

I was so hoping for the brothers to be gone but since it turned out to be a non-elim leg anyway, I guess it didn't matter...

My wife and I were saying how the detectives had to be one of the worst around since they didn't realize the fashion show was right inside the building where the clue box was and instead wandered around for a while trying to find it... :)
 
I didn't even know they didn't have an episode last week, and we saw last night's... Glad the boys are still rolling - but really wanted this to be an elim. With the remaining teams, I think Jet and Cord have a great shot at winning, especially if travel times don't kill their lead.
 
Yeah, I'm completely understanding when the cops start joking that they want to see a challenge where they bust down a door or "chase a crack-head"...that was kind of funny and it was clear they were complaining in a joking manner. But when you arrive right behind another team at the clue box and don't actually enter the building right in front of the clue box until that other team has already left, I don't have much simpathy. Sorry, guys.

I didn't really want to see the cops gone, though, so I'm glad it wasn't elimination, but I couldn't believe how badly they did at the challenges this week. To be fair, of all of the puzzles, the dark blue seemed to have the least contrast and it just seemed to me like it would have been harder than the other puzzles, but even then...

The whole time, it seemed like the brothers were behind and then the cops, who already weren't doing well, just fizzled out...
 
It didn't seem like the color was a problem, just that he was fixated on doing the stars first and when he couldn't find a particular piece, it just threw him off instead of him moving on to another pattern or something. He just really wanted to finish off the star.
 
Woo! The cowboys are in the final 3!

Should have been #1 for that leg, I think, but they're in... they kept trading places with Brent and Caite... caught up at the Buddha challenge, they caught up at the Pork Chop challenge...

Speaking of which, no one wanted to do Pork Dumplings?

Cops almost had it but lost it Pork Chop challenge... I don't think the brothers will make it, that one guy who for this is a lifelong dream will crack under the pressure, I think... he was already freaking out in this leg (not the brother who was getting all upset in the taxi, that was because the taxi driver wasn't understanding him).

So hope the cowboys go all the way next week!
 
I think it's the boys or brent and caite - but we'll see... I did enjoy how they were going to have "buckles" made if they won it... That would be cool for the show to present to them, but I don't think they would make them...
 
Yeah, I'm really not sure why no one would have attempted the dumplings. I guess navigating addresses and moving around a lot just seemed more intimidating. Since no one did it, it's hard to say, but it would have been interesting to see whether that turned out to be a faster challenge.

The cops for some reason assumed that since the brothers hadn't found their stamps yet, that they had an advantage once they got there because they were used to looking at details. That may be true, but they discounted the fact that the brothers had already been searching for some time, so as long as they didn't just miss it somewhere, they had a lot fewer stamps left to search. Anything can happen on that type of challenge, but realistically, they were at a huge disadvantage and had to get very lucky.

Considering that the color of the stamps they were searching for was so different than the others, I think it would have been hard to miss unless they just failed to pick it up at all.

At the end, they tried to make it seem really close. The cops said they were "right on their tail", but I got the impression that they had continued searching for at least another 1/2 hour or more, so I suspect it was no where near that close in the end.
 
Well, it did sounds like they were double-checking each other's cabinets that they had already checked, but yeah, I think they were pretty behind.

I just hope the brothers spend another 2 fruitless hours from the start of the next leg like they did this one :)
 
I hadn't thought of it before - but maybe I can look for clocks, etc. in the frames that giveaway the times the teams are at tasks, bumps, etc.
 
But there is no one behind them that they can wait for.

Did they happen to show just how far behind the brothers are at this point? They were already behind and waiting another 2 hours for the cops to start didn't help. Unless they have a catchup point (which they just might - I don't remember one for a while), I don't see how they can be serious contenders anymore regardless.
 
The airplane trip and the wait for it is always the great equalizer. And they still have to get back to the US :)
 
That's true. A lot will come down to whether or not this is one of those where everyone must take the same flight, or if they get on different flights.
 
I just think it would be interesting to note time-tell objects in the future... I think on the final leg, there is a "fair" start for them all... I don't remember any where the final leg didn't start with them all together...
 
Well, if it's one big race, "catch-up" spots are more about ratings and keeping it interesting than keeping it fair. After all, they don't all start the leg at the same time.

They do seem to go out of their way to make sure at least 2 of the teams are neck-in-neck out of the airport.
 
Well, that sucked. The (wrong) brothers won.

Yep, the catchup was at the airport. Counter didn't open until 10:45, leaving plenty of time for all teams to get there. Pretty underhanded of Jordan though, then his comment "We haven't done anything dirty or underhanded this whole game", what? They tried to steal other people's taxis! That's just off the top of my head.

It didn't matter too much since they all got on the plane, *and* they moved to first class to get a better spot at disembarking (that *was* a good move, btw), but they just played unethically, I thought. Didn't deserve to win.

And it basically came down to the taxi drivers at the airport, since the brothers left first and got one that knew where he was going right away, so they got a lead and didn't really relinquish it.

Not sure why Cody? the Director cowboy didn't realize that the other had to turn around and/or the player didn't tell him that maybe he should since the other team's did it. I guess they didn't connect it all... almost caused Brent and Caite to catch up, but then they had to go back to get their stuff and I guess they were out at that point since they weren't showed until they reached the finish mat.

All in all, I thought this final leg was a bit anti-climatic... the winning brother's lead notwithstanding, but just the tasks they had to do and taking a taxi ride at the end when normally they have to run for it... it just seemed too easy.
 
I was kind of frustrated by this episode as well. They've had some pretty difficult challenges in the past with the memory challenge. What order the other contestants were voted off? That one is almost a no brainer. The fact that the brothers had written it down was kudos to them, but made the challenge "so what" to me watching.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. The brothers who won were unethical the whole time and were pretty stupid about all sorts of things. In this episode in particular, putting the bag in front so they can get their tickets first? Is that really going to matter ultimately? I suppose you might end up slightly further towards the front on the plane, but is 2 seconds gained worth being a total jerk? In the end, the move to first class actually did make a difference and made their jerk move completely irrelevant, so they end up just being a jerk.

I loved it when the cowboy started shouting out random orders. That was funny. And the fact that the brother got so irritated at it just proves what I was saying about how dumb the brothers were. They don't see anything wrong with sticking their bag in front of the cowboys, but get all irritated when they are doing something like that?

I agree that the cowboy doing the virtual world should have mentioned the spinning and they should have talked more. Not sure why they didn't, but the director did comment about "that's why he was dizzy", so he did know some of what happened. I was a bit disappointed in them that it took them so long to figure it out. And I think they should have been a bit more agressive about that first checkpoint rather than waiting so long for the brothers. This is it, the final leg, and the brothers had made it clear that they were there to win, but the cowboys had kid gloves on. I don't think they should have shoved or anything that would have ruined their integrity, but they could have been a bit more assertive (anything would have made the brothers whine anyway).

I guess what bothered me most about this episode is that it was really the first time that the brothers showed any ingenuity or drive and honestly, they played a really good leg this leg and got a good taxi driver. This is the only leg where they deserved to not be eliminated because of how stupid they were being about challenges, coming in close to last every leg, and then they end up winning the whole thing. What a joke.

I also couldn't believe that even in defeat, the lesbians were so bitter. Caite handled it perfectly. Any stupid answer she gave during a beauty pagent was made up for here. She showed poise and calmness as she put the witch in her place. "Whose the one that's can't handle it? I'm here and you're there." That was great.

Edit - to be fair, it was only one of the lesbians. The other one seemed like she wanted to move past it but was still holding a grudge to placate her parter.
 
The fact that the brothers had written it down was kudos to them, but made the challenge "so what" to me watching.
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I always thought teams should have been keeping notes for this kind of stuff (and it looked like the cowboys were referring to some paper also), but on the same note, the show should be doing things differently and shaking things up to get teams on their toes. So yeah, fair challenge, but it could have been done better.

I loved it when the cowboy started shouting out random orders. That was funny.
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Yes! Totally agree :)

I don't think they should have shoved or anything that would have ruined their integrity, but they could have been a bit more assertive (anything would have made the brothers whine anyway).
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I don't think there was much more else they could do without keeping true to their nature, which is easy-going. They said something to Jordan, talked a bit among themselves, but getting physical or making a bigger deal out of it would have seemed out of character for them. I think they handled it the best they could.

I also couldn't believe that even in defeat, the lesbians were so bitter. Caite handled it perfectly. Any stupid answer she gave during a beauty pagent was made up for here. She showed poise and calmness as she put the witch in her place. "Whose the one that's can't handle it? I'm here and you're there." That was great.

Edit - to be fair, it was only one of the lesbians. The other one seemed like she wanted to move past it but was still holding a grudge to placate her parter.
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Oh yeah, I forgot about them... yeah, I think the other didn't even really hold a grudge anymore and looked embarrassed a little when her partner was speaking. I thought it ironic when Brandy? was saying how Caite couldn't handle the bad-mouthing in the first episode in the show yet she couldn't handle being U-Turned in her elimination episode, best-strategy notwithstanding.
 
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