Amazing Race 1/18/05 + DVD information!

[KGS]

Thought I'd start this week's thread with an interesting little news blurb from TVShowsonDVD.com (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=2706):
The Amazing Race - Season 1 is headed to DVD at some point in the future, we've learned. This box set is *likely* to arrive in 2005, but you should know that there are no guarantees it will make it before the year is over. Still, we know that a lot of you have been anxiously awaiting for *some* word of this title, so we wanted to bring this info to you just as soon as possible. Stay tuned, and we'll have official info from the studio (CBS/Paramount) whenever they provide updates.
Sweet!! Oh, and here's hoping *&V go home tonight. (At least we know SOMEONE will!)

[BiblioCat]

Yes, someone will go tonight, we just don't know who.

From the previews, it looks like Victoria hurts herself in a Detour, is getting help from the locals, and Kendra (I think it was Kendra) was yelling at Jonathan to go help her, and he was just indifferent. "Oh, she's screaming for some reason. Whatever."
What an asshole. I hope they go tonight.

[Fiver]

I give no credence to the previews at all. Remember, in the previews it "looked like" Kendra hurt herself in the bungee-jump task, but that turned out to be pretty far from the truth.

[Munch]

From the previews, it looks like Victoria hurts herself in a Detour, is getting help from the locals, and Kendra (I think it was Kendra) was yelling at Jonathan to go help her, and he was just indifferent. "Oh, she's screaming for some reason. Whatever."
In that case, I'm splitting my bet on Lori&Bolo and Adam&Rebecca. The previews are tricksy.

[rockle]

Are you there, God? It's me, rockle. Listen: I've been really good this week. I didn't send any nasty emails or spit in anyone's coffee or anything. (Although of course you already know this, being omniscient and all, but I am doing this for effect, alright? Sheesh. You and your phenomenal cosmic powers. You really know how to wreck a melodramatic moment for a girl, you know?)

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnyway ... look, do you think you could do me a favor? Well, not just me, but everyone here on the SDMB. I know all about how it is important for Evil to make its presence known so as to make Good look that much better and whatnot. So, do you think maybe you could do something about Not-So-Nice, and get rid of Aaron and Hayden? Or Harron and Aiden, or whaddayacallits. Please? That woman is a toxic harpy and a GODLESS HEATHEN SLUT. You know she is. She never wears a bra or anything.

So, what do you say? I'll give you my firstborn, if the doctors say I'll ever get to have one. In the meantime you can borrow one of the cats. But not Owen, because he makes that cool screamy noise. And not Hallie, either, because she has that supersoft catshmere [sic] fur. And I think I want to keep Zoe, too, because she's such an awesome badass. Um ... so, you can keep my husband on retainer, OK? But he doesn't do dishes or laundry. Or windows. Or much of anything, really. But he's a total sweetheart, and he's got wonderful hair. Deal?

Thanks! Amen.

[BiblioCat]

Or Harron and Aiden, or whaddayacallits.
That's what I keep calling them! :D

[zut]

Are you there, God? It's me, rockle. Listen: I've been really good this week. I didn't send any nasty emails or spit in anyone's coffee or anything. (Although of course you already know this, being omniscient and all, but I am doing this for effect, alright? Sheesh. You and your phenomenal cosmic powers. You really know how to wreck a melodramatic moment for a girl, you know?)

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnyway ... look, do you think you could do me a favor? Well, not just me, but everyone here on the SDMB. I know all about how it is important for Evil to make its presence known so as to make Good look that much better and whatnot. So, do you think maybe you could do something about Not-So-Nice, and get rid of Aaron and Hayden? Or Harron and Aiden, or whaddayacallits. Please? That woman is a toxic harpy and a GODLESS HEATHEN SLUT. You know she is. She never wears a bra or anything....

Thanks! Amen.[Loud Booming Voice]

Oh, my Daughter, my Daughter. Need you call upon Me to do what is right and holy? Have you no faith in the LORD?

Did you not call upon Me (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=272750) once before, before the turn of the Season? Did you not ask Me to smite Colin for his iniquities? And did I not respond by sending him an Ox that was Broken? Did I not turneth my face from him in the airport in the last episode, leading him astray from the path of righteousness? And was that not sweetness like unto the sweetness of honey from the comb?

And now, my Daughter, considereth the sins of Johnathon. Are not his iniquities seven times seven the iniquities of Colin? Hath he not brought curses down upon his own head, and upon those of his descendants unto the seventh generation?

Oh, my Daughter! Thou seest, and yet thou dost not believe! As I have done unto Colin, will I not do unto Johnathon, and unto Johnathon's house, and unto Johnathon's dog, and unto Johnathon's gerbil, seven times over? Have faith in the LORD!

[/LBV]

[Flutterby]

I give no credence to the previews at all. Remember, in the previews it "looked like" Kendra hurt herself in the bungee-jump task, but that turned out to be pretty far from the truth.

That's why I figure she got something dug into her palm. It looks like they are putting a mud/straw mix on the walls of the hut (or something like that) and I figure she just got a piece of wood/straw or something dug into her hand.

She's screaming like a banshee, but IME it does kinda hurt and since you can't see anything (she has to wash away the mud) you start freaking out and wonder what the heck you've done.

Of course on the other hand she could be really hurt.

[GingerOfTheNorth]

Damn, rockle. You need somewhere to hide?

[Amazingrace]

::Passes out from joy!::

[Jadis]

Squee!

::faints with delight::

[PastAllReason]

::Passes out from joy!::

I hear ya.

I kept thinking it couldn't be true; it couldn't be true. They're just leading us on.

Then ... woohoo!

[jayjay]

*dances like a munchkin*

Ding Dong the witch is dead!
Which old witch?
The wicked witch!
Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!

[solasscc]

Ok, so I had to work late and I totally missed the episode. Can someone post a spoiler box with the names of those phil-iminated?

Pretty please?!?

Thanks!!

[Jadis]

solasscc

* & Victimia

[solasscc]

YOU'RE KIDDING ME!

I missed that!?!

Was it spectacular? I hope it was!!

[Just Some Guy]

Sadly it was not a Colin-level blow out. They were done in by simple lack of clue reading.

Did anyone else thing that they would have been fine continuing on? I mean they did have two jackasses.

Great news on the DVD release. I only saw two episodes of the first season and I can't wait to watch the whole thing.

[Jadis]

I didn't see all of it because I was switching back and forth between TAR and American Idol, but this is what I caught:

* * & Victimia misread their clue that said to take two donkeys to the next clue box.
* When they realized they'd screwed up, they asked Adam and Rebecca to Yield Freddy and Kendra to try to give them a chance to go back and get their extra donkey and catch up.
* A&R did Yield F&K, but *&V were too far behind....F&K's timer ran out before *&V got back with the second donkey.
* *&V were actually fairly gracious on the mat with Phil. But I'm still glad they're gone.

[Just Some Guy]

One more thing, was anyone else terrified that this was going to be another two non-elim legs in a row situation? I was scared it was going to be like the ox-broken incident and my cheers would be immediately shattered by Phil saying "However..."

[Lamar Mundane]

Rebecca: "Never send a woman to do a man's job" as Adam goes off in the completely wrong direction. Ouch.

The one time she needed to yell at him she was silent.

Do you think Adam wet his pants when he was jumping around like a three year old at the end?

[BigDummy]

Did anyone else thing that they would have been fine continuing on? I mean they did have two jackasses.

If you look at it that way, did they really need to pick up any livestock in the first place.

[Hentor the Barbarian]

As much of an asshole as Jonathan is (and he certainly was charming again this episode, especially in his skivvies), Victoria was annoying as all get-out this time. I told my wife that she had better have taken her hand off in the table saw to be squealing like that, and Victoria was apparently fine before the task was even finished.

As soon as I saw that the two of them had a child carrying bags and driving their donkey, I just felt certain that karma was coming. I did hope for more of a final blowout, but they were pretty much blowing out the whole episode. At the end, I had to agree with Victoria - the two did seem joined at the soul.

Rebecca and Erin stepped up into the dysfunctional spotlight. He was typically pathetic, and she deftly manipulated the conflict away from a competitive miscue on her part to his beastly behavior. I got much pleasure from the fact that they Yielded another team, and ended up finishing behind them. Erin must have walked at least half an hour away from where he needed to go.

Kris and Jon better step up. If they go, it just won't be very interesting to watch.

[Hentor the Barbarian]

Of course, by Erin in the above post, I meant Adam. Why I keep wanting to call him Aaron I don't know.

[Barbarian]

Hey other Barbarian: Adam has the squiggly hair, Aaron is the tall one who is used to directing asses.

Best line of the night: You two smell really bad.
Second best line: Does he know where it is? It doesn't matter.

I'm very surprised at Hayden & Aaron. They only survived thanks to the bunching points, and being able to beg a ton of money in Corsica.

[Frostillicus]

I love that Team Star 80 got screwed by their own incompetance. This after Jonathan kept yammering for the whole series about how much smarter he was than everyone else. Not smart enough to count to 2, I guess! :D

[Slacker]

Word, Hentor, I said something similar to my wife.

This was an interesting episode from the ol' character development standpoint...

Princess Kendra actually appeared human for a few moments this week. And hey, anyone who yells at Jonathon is a friend of mine.

Kris and John were great as always. Not much screen time, which I hope bodes will for them for the next couple legs.

Rebecca and Adam are dead to me.

I've always thought Aaron was pretty cool, but Hayden really won some points in this episode. She really seemed to pull it together. It's nice to have one less team screeching at each other the whole time.

Lori and Bolo? You're the strong team, remember? Pick up the dang roof.

[Fenris]

The following response to the eliminated team will be ironic in light of the comment that follows:

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :D . I couldn't possibly have been happier about the outcome short of him getting eaten by a mule or something. (And how ironic that he was done in by a jackass)

That said, holy geez! Just when you think Adam couldn't become a bigger pussy. Y'know on the Simpsons how you sometimes see gay guys (usually uber-macho gay iron workers) do the "Omigodomigodomigod!" thing as they mince about and wave their hands? It's funny on the Simpsons because it's a stereotype that (I thought) didn't exist in reality. But Adam's little hissyfit ("We were RIGHT THERE! We were RIGHT THERE!") as he kept prancing about in a circle with that bizarre stiff-legged gait and waving his hands kept reminding me of that. Lamar was dead-on accurate with the "peed his pants" line. Also, A&R, stooopid choice of people to yield--you don't yield the team that's right behind you, you dumbasses, you yield the team that's the furthest behind you--the purpose of a yield is to knock another team out of the race, not to gain a 15 (?) minute advantage and have a pissed-off team gunning for you. It's obvious that they shoulda yielded * and Victimia. I can't decide if I want these two to stick around for comic amusement value or if I'm just sick of 'em.

And what's up with KKKendra? She's getting even worse-didja catch the "Oh, they want to be poor!" comments?

And, again. :D

[Fiver]

I was happy to see Hayden and Aaron do so well tonight. True, they're not the most sympathetic team (that's still Kris and Jon), but losing last week and going broke automatically made them the underdogs, which put me on their side.

And speaking of Kris and Jon, once they had also reached the Pit Stop I was happy no matter who got philiminated tonight.

[annieclaus]

Princess Kendra actually appeared human for a few moments this week. And hey, anyone who yells at Jonathon is a friend of mine.

Actually, "honey," she was still pretty uppity about Africa, "honey," even though she did allow that these Ethiopians looked like they chose to be poor, or something equally inane, "honey!" What, isn't anybody "Baby" anymore?

But what a waste of a Yield! It was fitting that Freddie and Kendra actually arrived at the pitstop before Hellboy and Friend who Yielded them.

And finally, all our prayers have been answered and we don't have to put up with * and Victimia any more. Whoever will we pick on now?

[KGS]

As soon as I heard the J&V voiceover talking about how they've maintained their relationship through this race, I knew they were toast. :cool: It's not as satisfying an elimination as it could have been, but going from first to last at the detour really proved what mental magicians they are, lol. For what it's worth, Victoria's so whiny and useless she gets the special "Triple Flo Award" for this season. Jonathan totally deserves her.

Incidentally, I thought I saw Jonathan driving on the freeway earlier this week, but on closer inspection it was just some other asshole in a Ferrari. There's so many of them out here, they keep breeding and breeding and breeding...speaking of which, is nobody gonna take Kendra to task for her comments? "It's like a different type of poverty here, and they seem to choose to be poor." Man, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.

Rebecca's a total bitch. Adam needs to get as far away from her as possible. Why he doesn't, I can't fathom. Oh yeah, he's an idiot. And not altogether sane, it would seem! I really thought he was gonna pull a Richard Blake right there in the ferry terminal, with cameras rolling and everything.

Of course, if I were in their place, I'd tell J&V that I'm yielding the other team, and then yield J&V instead. :) But then I guess I'd find my tires slashed every week...

[scotandrsn]

From the Leaderboard (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race6/route/leaderb.shtml):

Hayden/Aaron: Hayden was redeemed this episode. First, by the show reminding us that she took blame for her part in the bad turns the team had taken, and by showing such genuine respect for the local importance of the church area. Wow! Accountability! Humility! After the Rice hearings today, I'd almost forgotten what those looked like! It seemed like the old Hayden and Aaron were back at the Pit Stop, and I was happy to see them there. (Or was something else just making me happy?)

Lori/Bolo: I don't really like these two at all anymore (and how did they beat Kris/Jon to the Pit Stop, anyway?), but they raced hard and well this leg, so kudos to them. (Or is some other development increasing my sense of charity tonight?)

Kris/Jon: Don't see what made them finish third, would have like to see the old one-two punch of Hayden/Aaron and Kris/Jon at the top of the field, but what can you do? (Hmmm, it's as though some change in the wind has eased my sense of anxiety about the show, I wonder what it could be?)

Freddy/Kendra: Kendra almost became human tonight. Almost. Unfortunately, she still would have scored quite high on the asshole meter. But I'm not using it tonight. Just don't feel like it. (Why is that?)

Adam/Rebecca: Team Drama Queen is going to collapse and burn soon. Kind of a shame really. Hate to see two people who want to give it a second chance fail at it. (What's making me so charitable tonight? Can't quite put my finger on it...)

********/Victimia Aaahh, THAT's it! It's morning in America again, not to mention the rest of the world! I had the worst feeling Phil was going to say the worst, and my faith in the integrity of the show would have been destroyed forever. I would know that the producers just had a knack for what makes controversial television, and knew where to place the non-elim rounds to keep the evil teams in. How glad I am to be wrong.

You realize what we have to do now? AR 7 is already a loss, I'm sure they looked at the numbers for the earliest eps of AR6 and cast three or four Jonathans, but maybe there's still hope for AR8. We need to do everything within our power to boost the ratings now that * is gone so they get the hint.

Didja see the smile on Phil's face?

[lorene]

I did see the smile on Phil's face, although it was practically a blur because I was busy doing the happy dance.
When Phil told them they were eliminated, and * started saying, "That's OK", my husband finished for him, "I can berate her just as easily at home as I can here." Although I do have to agree that she was getting worse and worse with each episode, to the point where I didn't know if I could continue to watch if they didn't go.

[Mullinator]

[Martin Luther King]Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last.

[Lou Gehrig]Today-ay-ay, I consider myself-elf-elf, the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

[Gerald Ford]Our long national nightmare is over.

[Doc Holliday]Oh. Johnny, I apologize; I forgot you were there. You may go now.

[Homer Simpson]You suck diddly-uck Flanders!

[singular1]

Ya know, nobody was happier than Mr. singular and I to see * come in last, and I did point out Phil's smile to him, but after rewinding and watching the scene a couple times, I think he might have been smiling at the parade of kids that accompanied them to the Amazing Bath Mat, including the kid with *'s blue hat. It was a pretty cool sight. And of course, that's only part of the reason - I do think he was happy to see them come in last. I thought there were two ways to take Victimia's "disappointment" - partly because they lost, and partly because she's married to such a dick.
Most Satisfying? I really think that was him sobbing at the end!

And one of the funniest moments was the worshiper that cheated for Lori. If you looked carefully, just as Lori says her last perky optimistic statement about the task, on the far left of the screen you can see one of the guys waving his arm and pointing at the guy with the matching medallion. It was hysterical!

[BiblioCat]

I told my wife that she had better have taken her hand off in the table saw to be squealing like that, and Victoria was apparently fine before the task was even finished.
And it looked like Freddy had hurt his hand worse than Victoria did. He has a lot more blood from what we saw, and he just kept on going.

[rockle]

[Loud Booming Voice]

Oh, my Daughter, my Daughter. Need you call upon Me to do what is right and holy? Have you no faith in the LORD? ... Oh, my Daughter! Thou seest, and yet thou dost not believe! As I have done unto Colin, will I not do unto Johnathon, and unto Johnathon's house, and unto Johnathon's dog, and unto Johnathon's gerbil, seven times over? Have faith in the LORD!

[/LBV]
Word. (Heh.) I am totally dragging my sorry ass to church this week. Although I did notice, LORD, that you have a wicked sense of humor. Banish the Wicked, but give the Not-So-Nice a free trip to Mexico. (Heh.) I have a feeling you and the Virgin of Guadalupe are going to have some words about that.

By the way, would I be pushing my luck to ask for your help with the Eagles on Sunday? I'll drop an extra dollar in the basket ...

[zut]

An elimination leg, and a great episode, finally! TIme for this week's

Taxi Assessment

Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Avi/Joe - We're partying...
Meredith/Maria - all night long...
Lena/Kristy - down at the...
Don/MJ - railroad station...
Gus/Hera - in Pliliminationtown!
Johnathon/Victoria (downgraded from Fast, fast!) - First let me say this: Hahahahahahahahahaha! Also, hahahahahahahaha. And hahahaha. There. This team has really decreased my enjoyment of this show, and I couldn't be happier that they're finally, finally Piliminated. I admit, though, that I was hoping for some sort of comletely self-destructive tizzy wherein they both froth at the mouth, spin in circles, and eventually get splashed with water and melt away into nothingness. However, anything that removes these two from my television screen is satisfactory to me. Plus, Johnathon did practically gift the entire nation with his clue-reading mistake, enabling the punchline, "but they did bring two asses!" so, uh, there's that, too.
Anyway, simply poor task management by this team -- luckily for us, all of Johnathon's negatives as a racer occured all at once. He tends to avoid hard work, so they took the wrong Detour option. He gets into spastic mode, so they burned time looking for the donkeys. And he's too sure of himself, so they didn't reread the clue. I grudgingly give them credit for taking advantage of another team's stupidity (Adam and Rebecca, I'm looking at you), but in the end, it was all for naught. Good riddance.

Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Empty this week, but ready to accept the next team to fall from grace.

Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Adam/Rebecca (downgraded from Stopping for Gas) - Uh...what the Hell? I thought this team was on its way up, but they completely lose it this week. The in-fighting is bad enough, but now their in-race performance, especially at the end of the leg, completely went to pot. First of all they Yield the wrong team. Hey, dummies -- if you're gonna Yield someone, you Yield the last place team. For heavens sake, do I need to teach you how to play checkers, too? Then Adam goes running off somewhere else in the middle of the Roadblock, and Rebecca doesn't even try to warn him. And then, Adam's spastic little "I-can't-think-Mommy" pee-dance? What on Earth?

Fast, fast! - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Lori/Bolo (holding steady) - A nearly flawless leg on their part -- the only mistake being their incomprehensible decision to take the mud-packing Detour option. Why would anyone, especially big strong rasslers, not choose the roof-raising option? I mean, you just let other people do all the work! How hard could that be? Still, they turn in a strong second-place finish. After thir disasterous showing in the not-elimination-but-not-non-elimination leg a few weeks ago, this team has come on strong. If Bolo can keep reading a map correctly, they could go all the way.
Freddy/Kendra (holding steady) - Another team that chose the wrong Detour option. They eke out a fourth place finish due to Team Stupid and Team Asinine, but the Detour choice could have been costly. To their credit, they didn't really panic after being Yielded, and seem to have remained relatively calm through the entire leg. Not up to par with the leaders, but they have potential.

In the Passing Lane - or, not too bad, just not top-speed.
Hayden/Aaron (upgraded from Stopping for Gas) - Back into the passing lane, this team is. Y'know, the performance of this team is pretty consistantly tied to Hayden's attitide. Last week Hayden was near-useless, and they were just about eliminated. This week, she pulled it back together, and they come in first place. If she keeps on an even keel, they're looking good for the final three. (And by the way, when did Aaron become such a funny-man? He sure didn't learn it from Hayden.)

Cruisin' with Earl - or, drivin' on the shoulder, takin' shortcuts, and generally kickin' butt.
Kris/Jon (holding steady) - Again, not a dominating performance by this team, but neither are they showing any liabilities, so they remain in first place. See, the key though the first ten episode or so isn't comin in first, it's not coming in last. All the other teams have potential to flame out on any given leg and stick themselves in last -- Adam and Rebecca could have a knock-down drag-out, Lori and Bolo could get lost, Kendra could get squicked out, Hayden could go all banshee on Aaron's ass. Kris anf Jon don't seem to have those liabilities, so the smart money is on them to be final three.

Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.

[zut]

Word. (Heh.) I am totally dragging my sorry ass to church this week. Although I did notice, LORD, that you have a wicked sense of humor. Banish the Wicked, but give the Not-So-Nice a free trip to Mexico. (Heh.) I have a feeling you and the Virgin of Guadalupe are going to have some words about that.[Loud Booming Voice]

Oh My daughter! Did I not cause Her muzzy, just-woke-up-in-the-airport countenance to be shown upon national television? Did I not whisper in the ear of Aaron, causing him to liken Her unto the hindquarters of a donkey -- the ass of an ass? Have I not set them up high, so that they may later be cast down low?
By the way, would I be pushing my luck to ask for your help with the Eagles on Sunday? I'll drop an extra dollar in the basket ...Push not thy luck, My daughter, lest I get all Old Testament upon thy ass.

[/LBV]

[Munch]

Sweet Jesus, yes!

And the best line of the season (maybe the entire show's history) was uttered by Jonathan last night:

"Victoriaaaaa, have some self respect!" -- Jonathan, standing in the middle of a manure field wearing nothing but his underwear and shoes.

[jeevmon]

I'm kind of glad that Adam & Rebecca Yielded Freddy & Kendra instead of Jonathan and Victoria. Tactically stupid, yes, but I'm not sure I'd want to see how J. would react to being Yielded. Last season, Colin just sat there, stewed, and held a grudge, but he didn't start screaming at Christie about it. Assathan would probably have started screaming or worse at Victoria, blaming her for putting her in the position where they could be Yielded. Enough is enough. Order and honor is restored.

[GingerOfTheNorth]

...Plus, Johnathon did practically gift the entire nation with his clue-reading mistake, enabling the punchline, "but they did bring two asses!" so, uh, there's that, too.
I made this joke to Dave. All across North America, this joke was made. And then, the celebratory hooting and hollering commenced at Philimination.

[Trion]

I just want to take this opportunity to let you all know that I am the reason that J&V are no longer in the race.

How did I do it? Mind over matter. Self respect. The sure and persistent knowledge that you can do anything you can put your mind to. And if you can conquer any part of this world, you are doing OK. All you have to do is stop crying and face your fears and self-actualize your total personhood.

I am so proud of myself!!! I am great!!!

(Join my motivational seminar "Being Full Of Shit: The Jonathan Method For Winning It All (or at least coming in sixth) - - - only 19.95)

Oh, and my wife has started refering to Bolo as Mongo. ;)

[middleman]

* Lost in the happiness of the ending was the crappiness of the beginning. A bunching to start the race? Crappy. Why let Adam and Rebecca leave before everyone else simply to get somewhere and stop right away. Terrible.

* I think the Prune Juice people should steal KKKendra's line as their marketing slogan, "It's actually refreshing!" LOL!

* Are Adam and Rebecca trying out for Days of Our Lives? That drama is so fake and hammy.

* Kris looked rough last night.

[Atrael]

A few comments about last night.

Of course first off is...ya know...YEA! and everything

I thought that A&R yielded F&K because he did think they were the last team. I'm not sure he was certain that *&V were still behind them. It looked think the teams took different routes to get to the herder, so it may not have been obviouse that * and Victoria weren't ahead of them.

I didn't mind the bunching at the beginning of the episode. In fact, that's the only place I don't mind it...it's when they bunch near the end, that it totally takes away from what anyone does in the tasks, and leaves it totally up to luck.

It looked to me like this was the one time that * really could blame Victoria for causing them the game. It looked like she didn't read the clue carefully, so it sort of was her fault.

I thought Adam was going to turn into another * there at the airport, when he grabbed her and physically pushed her into the chair. Not a good thing to see.

Loved the church. That's one of the biggest reason's that I watch this show, to see way cool places around the world.

Also liked how *'s obsession with finding a local "guide" cost them time that very well could have made the difference in them finishing last.

[Fiver]

Again, this is my first season of The Amazing Race. What becomes of the Philiminated teams? Do they go to a Loser Lodge somewhere like on Survivor? Or are they sent off on parallel travels, and gathered back together for the finale?

Also, do we all think Adam is a closet case? Have we come to a decision on that yet?

[jsc1953]

Fiver, the philiminated teams reappear at the finish line to cheer on the winners. I have no idea what they do in the interim.

Yeah, I think we're pretty much agreed that Adam has, uh, masculinity issues.

The long-awaited departure of * & V was certainly anti-climactic. * actually took it well. Victimia, on the other hand....there was a point when she was running around in circles with her hair on fire, shrieking in that cement-piercing voice, that I was just begging for it to stop. I was reminded of a saying my Portuguese grandmother used to use, to the effect that it's better that they screw up a single household rather than two. In other words, they deserve each other.

Kendra ... giving her an enormous amount of undeserved slack, I think she was trying to make a point about urban poverty in Senegal, vs the rural rustic lifestyle in Ethiopia.

Hayden waking up in the airport...priceless.

rockle & zut -- you guys are great.

[whiterabbit]

Ahhhhh...I can watch my show again! CBS damn near lost me, and while I'm not a major advertiser or anything, I AM among those obsessive enough that I went to New York last time for TARcon. This time I can't go for multiple reasons, but even if I could, I wouldn't, on the chance that It might show up.

I'd quit watching the last couple of weeks because I'd get so pissed it wasn't fun anymore. I feel SO MUCH BETTER NOW...

[Trion]

Kendra ... giving her an enormous amount of undeserved slack, I think she was trying to make a point about urban poverty in Senegal, vs the rural rustic lifestyle in Ethiopia.



That's how I took that one too.

Has anone seen the evil ones on the Wake Up With CBS show (or whatever it's called)? I'm perversely interested in how Jonathan justified his very existence.

[scotandrsn]

...shrieking in that cement-piercing voice...

God, BOTH of them!

I hear the Pentagon, seeking a prisoner-torture method that con not be captured on film, is doing a frequency analysis of clips of * and Victimia so they can play those exact frequencies repeatedly during interrogation.

[rockle]

God, BOTH of them!

I hear the Pentagon, seeking a prisoner-torture method that con not be captured on film, is doing a frequency analysis of clips of * and Victimia so they can play those exact frequencies repeatedly during interrogation.
I am convinced that those noises cannot possibly be human in origin. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, sounds like that. Well, except for * and V, obviously. But like I said, those aren't HUMAN sounds.

[rockle]

Push not thy luck, My daughter, lest I get all Old Testament upon thy ass.

If You are trying to tell me that You are a Falcons fan, I am converting to Buddhism here on the spot. No righteous and awesome God cheers for Michael Vick in the playoffs.

[Mullinator]

I don't think Kendra is racist. If she happened to be, I think it would manifest itself in a lot of ways besides a few explanatory comments about a leg destination (spread out over a couple of episodes). You'd likely hear more from her about foreigners, Gus and Hera, etc.

I do think she is pretty low on the book intelligence scale, really low on the street smarts scale, and a little below average when it comes to communication skills. Add those up and you get phrases that, in her head get forth what she is trying to say, but come out sounding much worse because of how her brain has put things together.

Example: In her head, she's probably thinking something like "Wow, you can just see the utter devestation that some of these people live through every day. It seems like too much to bear, too much to ever break out of. I couldn't do it. And there are so many kids that continue to be born into it that have to start in such difficult circumstances. I am blessed to live where I live and will remember that when I get home."

What comes out: "It is so awful here, I can't stand this place. It's just filthy and nasty. And they keep breeding and breeding. I can't wait to get back to my clean house."

Perfectly innocent, but sounds like a jerk.

Eh, who cares. Jonathon is officially a loser.

[zut]

A bit of news I just stumbled across: TAR 7 (http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|93015|1|,00.html) will make its debut Tuesday, March 1 -- only three weeks after the current race finishes. I hope there's no casting mistakes like the big one this season.Again, this is my first season of The Amazing Race. What becomes of the Philiminated teams? Do they go to a Loser Lodge somewhere like on Survivor? Or are they sent off on parallel travels, and gathered back together for the finale?My understanding is that they are sequestered together somewhere, and the producers will also use some of the already-eliminated teams as decoys on certain legs to keep spoiler-mongers guessing.Kendra ... giving her an enormous amount of undeserved slack, I think she was trying to make a point about urban poverty in Senegal, vs the rural rustic lifestyle in Ethiopia.Yeah, I actually took it the same way. I'm assuming she meant, "The people in this part of Ethiopia, although poor by our Western standards, seem by-and-largehealthy, well-fed, and happy with their lifestyle. This contrasts markedly with what I observed in my time in Senegal, where the population seemed to be stuck in a wretched cycle of poverty and despair. And too much breeding." OK, that last bit was gratuitious, but, to be fair, I think this last episode shows Kendra as being more culturally aware than we've seen her before.If You are trying to tell me that You are a Falcons fan, I am converting to Buddhism here on the spot. No righteous and awesome God cheers for Michael Vick in the playoffs.
The LORD helpeth those teams that helpeth themselves. Be strong on D and the gate to paradise will open unto you.

[Raygun99]

[QUOTE=zutYeah, I actually took it the same way. I'm assuming she meant, "The people in this part of Ethiopia, although poor by our Western standards, seem by-and-largehealthy, well-fed, and happy with their lifestyle. This contrasts markedly with what I observed in my time in Senegal, where the population seemed to be stuck in a wretched cycle of poverty and despair. And too much breeding." OK, that last bit was gratuitious, but, to be fair, I think this last episode shows Kendra as being more culturally aware than we've seen her before.
[/QUOTE]

On the CBS Extra videos, she admits she was inappropriate in Senegal.

[Hooleehootoo]

Also, A&R, stooopid choice of people to yield--you don't yield the team that's right behind you, you dumbasses, you yield the team that's the furthest behind you--the purpose of a yield is to knock another team out of the race, not to gain a 15 (?) minute advantage and have a pissed-off team gunning for you. It's obvious that they shoulda yielded * and Victimia.


I disagree with this. It is the nature of the show that teams get knocked out, it is not necessary to use the Yield. It seems clear to me from shows such as Survivor and The Weakest Link where there is competition with elimination that you want to eliminate the strong now, so that at the end you only face the weak. It makes no sense to eliminate a team several hours behind: you use up your one Yield, and it has no effect on the outcome. The Yield should be used against teams close behind, and that are strong.

I think Rebecca was smart enough to realize that F/K were the better team, who would usually beat J/V.

Speaking of smart, Lori seemed not to understand she could rotate the medallion in her hand 45 degrees to compare it!

[Slacker]

I don't think Kendra is racist. If she happened to be, I think it would manifest itself in a lot of ways besides a few explanatory comments about a leg destination (spread out over a couple of episodes). You'd likely hear more from her about foreigners, Gus and Hera, etc.
Agreed. She strikes me for the most part not as a racist or hateful person, but rather as person with a terribly immature world view. She seems like the type who very rarely meets anyone who isn't in her same financial and social situation, so exposure to such a wildly different culture is going to be a little scary. I see the same thing in my high school students all the time during my church's youth group mission trips to Mexico.

FWIW - she had a bit of a mea culpa in the "insider" clips on CBS's website this week. It looks like it was part of the same interview where she mentioned she wanted to take the kids home with her.

I still like Hayden and Aaron (a little) and Kris and Jon (a lot) better, but I'm not rooting for Freddie and Kendra to lose any more. ;) At least they're better than the Rasslers and Team Oedipus.

[scotandrsn]

On the CBS Extra videos, she admits she was inappropriate in Senegal.

OK, can someone explain to me why I am unable, with a brand new copy of RealPlayer, and aDSL bandwidth as my minimum available speed (T3 max at work), to view any of the videos on any browser on any computer? I just get errors.

[levdrakon]

You want the truth? You may not be able to handle this, but I'll say it anyway.

I thought Jonathan was kinda hot this episode.

He also knew he was in last place and couldn't catch up, so instead he took a nice, slow walk up the hill with all the village kids. Which I thought was classy.

And that was why Phil smiled.

[zut]

Holy cow! Someone at CBS has booked a first-class seat on the snark express! Check out these captions for some of the insider videos this week:
Water Works - 1:01
Hayden just can't seem to stop crying. This time, it's from a fear of flying. How has she gotten this far in the Race being afraid of planes?

Glimmer of Hope - 2:14
After (mercifully) putting a shirt on, Jonathan, along with Victoria, walks back to St. George's Church, hoping for the best. He even takes time out of his admiration for the locals to shout at Victoria just one more time.

But What about That Hat? - 1:04
Married entrepreneurs Jonathan & Victoria express their desired final three Teams in the Race. Unfortunately for them, they didn't realize they needed to avoid elimination for this to happen.

One More Time - 1:51
Jonathan & Victoria get their parting shots in as they walk back to the village for their second donkey, all the while blaming each other for the disappointing day. Some things never change. Good Lord! Someone doesn't like Hayden, and really, really doesn't like Johnathon. "He even takes time out of his admiration for the locals to shout at Victoria just one more time." Hee hee. The rest of the captions are almost as snarky. Go CBS-dude!

[Slacker]

OK, can someone explain to me why I am unable, with a brand new copy of RealPlayer, and aDSL bandwidth as my minimum available speed (T3 max at work), to view any of the videos on any browser on any computer? I just get errors.
If you're at work it's possibly a firewall issue. Streaming audio and video are often blocked intentionally in office networks.

[DeVena]

Boy. That was not my take on it at all. The walking-with-fist-raised and trying to get the local kids to do it too was cheeeeesy. That might work for tiny botoxed white guys in Hollywood, but it'll get your ass kicked around here.

And tiny botoxed Hollywood guys should keep their chest hair to themselves. Phil smiled cause he was thinking the same thing.

I'm just sayin'.

[Slacker]

Holy cow! Someone at CBS has booked a first-class seat on the snark express!
lol - I meant to mention that earlier. The clips are great too. Pretty much the polar opposite of the coma-inducing extra clips NBC/Yahoo post from The Apprentice.

[Gangster Octopus]

I really, really, really despise the "no money" penalty. It is a) degrading to make anybody beg, I don't care who they are; and 2) asking people to turn over thier hard earned money during a game show is just ridiculous. I agree there needs to be some sort of penalty fro non-elim, but I really wish they would do away with this.

Hayden is oneo f those players who has a hard time with the lows, but manages to enjoy things when they are going well,which is why I don't mind that team so much. The teams I really ahte are the ones who simply cannot manage to enjoy one moment of the race.

[Barbarian]

Can anyone tell me what time * and Victoria appeared on CBS' early morning show Wednesday? I slept through it, but I can grab that section of the interview easily if I know when it happened.

In other stuff, we've got what-- three eps left? One elimination, a non-elim, and the 2-hour finale? I think at this point it's tough to say which teams will be in the final three-- they're all roughly equivalent in terms of skill and personal disasters (except for K&J), so it really comes down to whoever makes a critical mistake that cannot be recovered from.

Also: we've got four pitstops left, and they're still in Africa? Get ready for some long, long flights.

[Judith Prietht]

I really, really, really despise the "no money" penalty. It is a) degrading to make anybody beg, I don't care who they are; and 2) asking people to turn over thier hard earned money during a game show is just ridiculous. I agree there needs to be some sort of penalty fro non-elim, but I really wish they would do away with this.

Hayden is oneo f those players who has a hard time with the lows, but manages to enjoy things when they are going well,which is why I don't mind that team so much. The teams I really ahte are the ones who simply cannot manage to enjoy one moment of the race.
Hayden kind of redeemed herself in my eyes this episode.

As far as the penalty, it's dumb. There's been absolutely no problems getting together enough funds for any of the teams who've been penalized, whether it's begging from locals or begging from other teams. As someone suggested many legs ago, I agree that the non-elim last-place team should have to perform a task of some sort. Nothing too crazy, but a little something extra.

[DeVena]

Can anyone tell me what time * and Victoria appeared on CBS' early morning show Wednesday? I slept through it, but I can grab that section of the interview easily if I know when it happened.

Here's the clip - Race Pair On Bad Behavior. (http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?clip=/media/2005/01/19/video667744&sec=207&vidId=207&title='Race'$@$Pair$@$On$@$Bad$@$Behavior&hitboxMLC=entertainment) I can't watch it at work, so could someone do a recap for this thread???

[scotandrsn]

If you're at work it's possibly a firewall issue. Streaming audio and video are often blocked intentionally in office networks.

Hadn't thought of that, since I can run Yahoo Launch Radio just fine.

I'll have to double check the issue at home, thanks.

[Cowgirl Jules]

Thanks, DeVena. Short version = two really ugly people making excuses for their visible ugliness for five minutes.

[scotandrsn]

OK, so, not to be a pest about this or anything, but I can watch the Early Show videos just fine here at work, but TAR videos still don't work.

Anyone else having this difficulty? You'd think a CS degree would help in these matters, but no dice so far on this one.

[Slacker]

OK, so, not to be a pest about this or anything, but I can watch the Early Show videos just fine here at work, but TAR videos still don't work.

Anyone else having this difficulty? You'd think a CS degree would help in these matters, but no dice so far on this one.
For what it's worth, I couldn't watch at least a couple of the videos from this week's show earlier. Can you watch any from last week's episode? If so, the site may just be having traffic issues.

[Fenris]

Again, this is my first season of The Amazing Race. What becomes of the Philiminated teams? Do they go to a Loser Lodge somewhere like on Survivor? Or are they sent off on parallel travels, and gathered back together for the finale?
They get sent to little area nicknamed "Sequesterville" (by fans and by at least Mirna and Charla). It's apparently pretty dull (which might be nice after the rigours of the race). I have no idea how they do the Early Show videos (perhaps they're done after they're sent home--the * and Victima one sounds like it wasn't done the next day after the Philimination)

Also, do we all think Adam is a closet case? Have we come to a decision on that yet?
I dunno--is "mama's boy"/pussy a sexual orientation? ;)

[FlightlessBird]

(perhaps they're done after they're sent home--the * and Victima one sounds like it wasn't done the next day after the Philimination)I'm sure they are the morning after the elimination is aired. Or are you talking about the videos of them recapping what they've learned on the race? Those are probably done after intense therapy while still out in the "field".

[stpauler]

Here's the clip - Race Pair On Bad Behavior. (http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?clip=/media/2005/01/19/video667744&sec=207&vidId=207&title='Race'$@$Pair$@$On$@$Bad$@$Behavior&hitboxMLC=entertainment) I can't watch it at work, so could someone do a recap for this thread???
I DVRed this and watched it earlier... I forgot who was upset about the fact that CBS was showing the clip at the Brandenburg Tor where Jonathan pushes Victoria, but they showed it in the previews and then again during the interview.

Some other quick points. (Forgive me, if I'm a little off, I'm out sick with strep).

V knew J was intense in their personal life, but she said she was ready to bail in Iceland because he was more intense than usual.
They seemed/acted remorseful about their actions on the show and said that they are examining themselves and their behaviors now.
They said that CBS showed the ugly parts at the hut mudding part and not the part where V told J to keep going.
V also said that she was mentally and physically exhausted when they got to the mud huts and that's why she overreacted.

[The Big Cheese]

Dr Phil is doing a special prime-time show on abusive relationships on Feb 15. Guess who is one of the couples scheduled to be on??

V & J.



I also loved how Bolo pronounced Nice, rhymes with 'rice'.

[middleman]

One of the more understandable mispronunciations...

[Hentor the Barbarian]

Boy. That was not my take on it at all. The walking-with-fist-raised and trying to get the local kids to do it too was cheeeeesy. That might work for tiny botoxed white guys in Hollywood, but it'll get your ass kicked around here.
I absolutely agree. I saw it as a pathetic loser with a raging array of personality disorders who knows he is going to lose, so he takes his last opportunity to make a little spectacle of himself. The raised fists - what does that even mean in this context? Protesting against TAR? Fighting against the injustice of being an incompetent and sniveling weenie? It seemed to be an invocation of all sorts of inappropriate imagery, all for the promotion of Jonathan Baker - Amazing Racer. But that's just my take on it.

As for Kendra's racism - I don't have a strong objection to calling her statements racist, or at least her Senegal sweetness. People do not breed. Animals breed. Any racist remark can be polished up by explaining the person's context and putting words in their mouth.

I thought her comment about choosing poverty in Ethiopia not so racist as perhaps classist and stupid. Kind of like saying "There's no bread? Let them eat cake!" As if they organized, had a NIMBY community reaction, and said, "No, no. Keep your resources. We prefer dirt farming."

[levdrakon]

The raised fists - what does that even mean in this context?

Self respect? Losing with dignity? Pride? Teaching the kids that coming in last doesn't always mean you suck as person, particularly, when it's a game?

[rockle]

Teaching the kids that coming in last doesn't always mean you suck as person, particularly, when it's a game?
I'd buy this from anyone else, but not Jonathan.

[Hentor the Barbarian]

Self respect? Losing with dignity?I take it you aren't a viewer of the show. Jonathan wasn't big on doing anything with dignity. Apart from that, the raised fist doesn't really say any of that to me.

... Teaching the kids that coming in last doesn't always mean you suck as person, particularly, when it's a game?Which kids? The ones he was with? First, I would suspect that they had very little idea who was first and last. But more to the point, is this what you would expect from the guy who was having one of the kids carry his bag and drive his ass for him? Yeah, he seems really concerned about the messages he is sending to the kids.

[BiblioCat]

I rewatched it last night (first chance my husband had to watch it), and I was wondering if someone on the production staff got to Jonathan and Victoria before they got to the mat and said something like, "Okay, here's the deal. You're in last place, you know you're last, and it's an elimination leg. When you get up to the mat, you WILL conduct yourselves liked civilized human beings and with good sportsmanship, or you'll forfeit your stipend."

That's when he gathered the locals around himself with the walking-with-raised-fists thing. He wanted to look like he was going down fighting.