Amazing Race 4/26 [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board

Draelin

04-26-2005, 11:33 AM

Oooh, I get to start the thread! Probably just because I'm impatient. :)

So, the title of tonight's episode is "We got a gnome! We got a gnome!" I don't know what that means, but it's got to be amusing. The TV Guide listing says that teams are heading from India to Turkey. Personally, I'm glad they're getting out of India. India always seems to depress the racers, and while that makes for good television, it makes for crappy racing.

Any bets on whether Ron throws Kelly from a moving vehicle for the POW comment? Will Rob and Amber find a Turkish Survivor fan to lead them around? Will Gretchen and Meredith just die right in the middle of an arduous task? Will Joyce get a cold from having no hair?

I'm guessing tonight's got to be an NEL, but I'm really hoping it's not Team Weeble in last place--I couldn't bear to see Phil take away Gretchen's spiffy new backpack.

Terminus Est

04-26-2005, 11:35 AM

If it's a non-elimination leg, I'd like to see Rob & Amber come in last if only to see how Rob cons the locals into giving him money and supplies.

Gangster Octopus

04-26-2005, 11:39 AM

NEL for sure...I just gots me a feeling.

zut

04-26-2005, 11:46 AM

If past performance is any indication, just watch Meredith and Gretchen. If they come in last place, it's a non-elimination leg or a TBC. If they come in second-to-last, it's an elimination leg. If they come in third-to-last, look for archangel Michael to descend from on high, trumpets blowing, and shepard us all home.

Edward The Head

04-26-2005, 11:49 AM

Turkey? Isn't that going the wrong way? I mean I know they go back and forth a bit but they usually go east. Have they ever gon so far back west before? That's really gonna take a toll on the racers.

lorene

04-26-2005, 11:51 AM

Ooooh, I'd forgotten about Kelly's comment. This'll be good.

Gretchen and Meredith are Team Little-Engine-That-Could. I can just hear the whining now, though, if they come in last in another NEL and Gretchen has to say bye-bye to her new backpack.

Draelin

04-26-2005, 11:52 AM

Turkey? Isn't that going the wrong way? I mean I know they go back and forth a bit but they usually go east. Have they ever gon so far back west before? That's really gonna take a toll on the racers.
I don't recall ever seeing anybody go west, but they haven't even touched Europe this season yet, have they?

Judith Prietht

04-26-2005, 11:59 AM

I'd think the gnome thing has to be a Travelocity shout-out.

I want to see some reactions to Joyce's head from the other racers.

middleman

04-26-2005, 12:55 PM

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Not content with their $1 million-plus combined "Survivor" prize winnings and their numerous trips won during the course of "The Amazing Race," reality lovebirds Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano have registered for various items essential to marital bliss at Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond. (http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|94915|1|,00.html)

Wanna bet they hope to get tons of gifts sent to them by perfect strangers?

And are we sure there are three more episodes to this season?

When is the finale set to air?

Shayna

04-26-2005, 12:57 PM

I don't recall ever seeing anybody go west, but they haven't even touched Europe this season yet, have they?
I only started watching regularly last season, but in checking the official sites (with the exception of season 1, where the map doesn't seem to work), while there have been some minor westward legs, season 5 had a fairly big backtrack of 4 hours, from New Zealand (GMT +12 hours) to the Philippines (GMT +8 hours). That's the longest one I could find, though. I also don't know the timeframe these shows are usually filmed, but it's possible that that leg was an even further backtrack of 5 hours, if it was run prior to the first week in October, as New Zealand (http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/pacific/new-zealand/) would've been on Daylight Time, making it GMT +13 hours (The Phillipines (http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/asia/philippines/) doesn't change from Standard Time).

Turkey (http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/european-union/turkey/) would have been GMT +3 hours, if filming ended prior to last October 30th, if not, then they were GMT +2 hours. And India (http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/asia/india/time.htm) is always GMT +5.5 hours (no Summer/Daylight Time), so a backtrack of either 2½ or 3½ hours.

And no, they haven't touched Europe yet this season. The route so far has been: Los Angeles
Cuzco, Peru
Santiago, Chile
Mendoza, Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Soweto, South Africa
Botswana, Africa
Lucknow, India
Jodhpur, India
I don't really advocate violence, so this is really just hyperbole, but a part of me wants to see Ron punch Kelly in the mouth. I really hate that woman.

BiblioCat

04-26-2005, 01:30 PM

Will Rob and Amber find a Turkish Survivor fan to lead them around?
If they do, that shreiking you hear from the East Coast will be me. I hate him.

Draelin

04-26-2005, 01:47 PM

If they do, that shreiking you hear from the East Coast will be me. I hate him.
Don't worry, there'll be plenty of East-Coast-shrieking in my apartment, too. :)

Glory

04-26-2005, 02:07 PM

Shayna

04-26-2005, 03:56 PM

I think it's kind of cute that Rob and Amber are registered at Target/BBB like normal people - are they not supposed to register for gifts from family/friends just because they got some publicity? They just got married, they should get presents!

It's not like they're registered for 12 piece place settings of fine china and crystal from some swanky department store - their registry choice makes them look pretty well-grounded. If any stranger is nutty enough to buy them gifts - more power to them!

Ah, but they are registered for some rather pricey items at Kaufmann's Wedding Registry (through TheKnot.com) (http://www.kaufmanns.com/gifts/OnlineShopping/KF?ACTN=1300&regNo=200367126), like a $100 serving platter or a $65 sugar bowl, and at William Sonoma (http://ww1.williams-sonoma.com/reg/registrylist.cfm), where they still need their 10-piece All-Clad set for $1,000.00 and some $500 Wüsthof knives. NOT that there's anything wrong with that. It looks like they're also registered at Crate & Barrel (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/gr/grGiveGiftList.asp?grId=7908733&firstName=amb&lastName=Brkich&eventDate=4/1/2005), and they'd like gift certificates for Pottery Barn (http://ww1.potterybarn.com/reg/registrylist.cfm). They are not registered at Tiffany & Co., Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, JC Penney, Sears or Robinsons May, however.

middleman

04-26-2005, 06:28 PM

I have no problem with them registering for pricey items. They are affluent people and want nice things in their home.

I just bet that they over-registered and planted the story in the press so over-enthused fans would ship them gifts.

Nice bit of strategy, really....

KGS

04-26-2005, 07:21 PM

Regarding Kelly's evil anti-POW comment, I expect nothing exciting to happen. Ron will either laugh or shrug it off. (This is in accordance with the "Anything Shown In The Previews Will Have No Actual Bearing On The Game" rule.)

Tonight will almost certainly be an NEL, in fact next week will probably be NEL as well.

Amazingrace

04-26-2005, 08:11 PM

I love, Love, LOVE how Rob's comment totally backfired! And Joyce looks gorgeous with a shaved head.

SiouxChief

04-26-2005, 08:30 PM

I love, Love, LOVE how Rob's comment totally backfired! And Joyce looks gorgeous with a shaved head.

You're right...Rob shot himself in the foot. I can't believe the airlines didn't hook them up with the better flight.

I'm a huge fan of R&A. It's going to be a dark day...

Gorsnak

04-26-2005, 08:31 PM

I love, Love, LOVE how Rob's comment totally backfired!
No kidding. That was freaking hilarious.

Is it just me, or is Joyce going to have to do almost all of the remaining roadblocks?

DrFidelius

04-26-2005, 08:32 PM

It is established.

Gretchen could not find her own butt with both hands tied behind her back.

SiouxChief

04-26-2005, 08:35 PM

Is Phil pronouncing gnome as "no-em"? It's kind of annoying

twickster

04-26-2005, 09:05 PM

Nothing Phil does could possibly be annoying.

Just sayin'.

Eureka

04-26-2005, 09:12 PM

Important note to Gretchen:

Your team has been nicknamed team Weeble because Weebles wobble but they don't fall down and your team has failed to come in last due to the clumsiness of other teams more times than any reasonable person would have predicted. This means it is not the end of the world if your team comes in last. On the other hand, it means that there is no good reason to panic and scream (especially if you have reason to believe that you are not the team in last place!).

Persons on this board have been fussing about Gretchen for a long time, and I wasn't sure what frustrated them so. Tonight I figured it out.

Totally unrelated: I loved it that the last team to arrive was the team that got the Travelocity prize- which included the stay at the classy hotel (which should make loss of toiletries less of a problem).

And um, by the way, it seems to me that you are getting close enough to the end of the race that loss of your possessions is less devastating a loss than it would be earlier in the race.

whiterabbit

04-26-2005, 09:17 PM

Nothing Phil does could possibly be annoying.

Just sayin'.

Definitely. Oh yeah. *fanning self* He looked gooooood tonight!

carterba

04-26-2005, 09:21 PM

I'm a fan, but I still thought it was pretty funny when Rob's scheming backfired. Nice to know it doesn't work for him every time.

Frostillicus

04-26-2005, 09:27 PM

Tonght's funniest line:

Rob: "What's a gnome"?

It's a city in Alaska, dumbass.

Barbarian

04-26-2005, 09:51 PM

For God's Sake, I'm tired of Kvetchen's miserable griping, and I'm gonna have to listen to it for at least another week! But tactically, it was brilliant to have her do the physically grueling task. This is probably the only time Kvetchen and Neardeath will go into any challenge with a significant lead over their younger, hardier rivals, and this saves Neardeath's meagre reserves for the next two or three legs.

I love that Rob's "Did you get on the earlier flight" shtick blew up in his face. He's probably watching this episode and kicking himself.

But what did I love even more? Ron's "dangit" 10 minutes on top of a castle while Rob and Amber make their way to the pitstop. The pullback from him fruitlessly looking for a key to Romber was priceless!

BTW-- did anyone notice that the 'mugging by Phil' rules have changed yet again? Not only do they lose all their gear and all their cash, but Ron and Kelly have to start the next leg with no money. I assume this is to avoid the move the models made in Season 5 where they were able to beg in a decent hotel. In the 4 Seasons, Ron and Kelly could easily make more cash than the other teams will start with!

annieclaus

04-26-2005, 09:59 PM

How could Rob and Amber and Team POW have NOT found out about that earlier flight to Istanbul. Were those travel agents lying to them? They definitively said the two teams were on the earliest possible flight. I don't get it!

That being said, the weigh-in task was a good example of what makes Rob and Amber such good racers. They divided the task equitably. Amber took charge of the scale. Rob organized folks to be weighed in a neat line and popped them on and off the scale efficiently. Boom! Task over. No arguing. No whining. Just good racing.

And that being said, I just wanted to stuff a sock in Gretchen's whiney mouth!!! JUST SHUT UP!!!

And even though I, too, suspected that this would be a non-elimination leg, I was a nervous wreck through the whole show. (I am a Romber fan!)

But wasn't the Columns task simple? Who knew?

Fenris

04-26-2005, 09:59 PM

Actually I'd heard that this was an existing rule all season but they didn't mention when Kvetchen and what's his name--the wussy old geezer came in last.

Anyway, good episode, and man o man is Kelly a megabitch.

DeVena

04-26-2005, 10:19 PM

annieclaus

04-26-2005, 10:38 PM

Did anyone else notice the start times? Team Bald's fastforward brought them to the mat 2 minutes before Romber and POW/megabitch (heh) and 9 minutes before Kvetchen and Neardeath (heh heh). Wow they were running pretty tight until the planes tonight.
I noticed that, too! That must have been some really close finish. Didn't look all that close on the episode last week. I wonder what the arrival times were in tonight's episode.

aktep

04-26-2005, 11:25 PM

But wasn't the Columns task simple? Who knew?

I figured that finding the numbers would be no problem for a team with some navigation skills (note, this leaves out the top two teams from this leg).
What I didn't figure on was that you would not be provided the order that the numbers came in the combination: Ron and Kelly were fortunate to get it on their 4th try. There was what, 20 or so more combinations to go?

Glory

04-26-2005, 11:59 PM

I love Rob, but I LOVED the way the flight thing backfired - now that's good TV!

scotandrsn

04-27-2005, 12:23 AM

Wow, an actual upset in the established order of the last 4 episodes. Astounding!

From the Leaderboard (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race7/show/ep07/route/leader/):

Uchenna/Ilia: Way to out-Rob Rob! I have liked this team from the beginning. And, uh, is it just me, or did they manage not to get lost this ep? In fact, they might have been the only team this week without a serious navigation error.

Neardeath / Kvetchen: Lotta love there, N. Make your wife who fell down the mineshaft risk a second concussion on a castle wall. Reminds me of an old Chas. Addams cartoon, where the guy is a ticket counter with his wife, whispering to the agent, "A round-trip and a one-way to Ausable Chasm..."

Romber: Sucks to be behind the teams you called "stupid", doesn't it? Didn't even win the Travelocity prize, didja? Musta crapped out that horseshoe in India, Rob.

Ron/Kelly: I agree that losing your stuff this late in the race is less of a liability, and that the four-star hotel stay will, shall we say, ease the blow. Hmm, the two teams that stayed at the less fancy hotel before the plane finished last this time, and now R&K get a serious upgrade. Could we be looking at a Romb-ah-limination next week?

Askia

04-27-2005, 02:40 AM

Uchenna and Joyce ran a solid, solid, leg. Way to maintain first place. Forgive me for thinking that helping Gretchen & Meredith wasn't that alturistic a move on your part -- by helping them finish second, you almost knocked out another team by keeping a physically weaker team around. Had this been an elimination round that might have worked out in your favor.

Romber: HA HA.

Since Ron & Kelly won't show up at the Pit Stop for the next 12 hours, will the other teams assume they'd been eliminated?

KGS

04-27-2005, 03:40 AM

And um, by the way, it seems to me that you are getting close enough to the end of the race that loss of your possessions is less devastating a loss than it would be earlier in the race.
Aw heck, it seems like Meredith & Gretchen have busted the greatest TAR myth -- that you actually NEED BACKPACKS to complete the race! Hell, the backpacks probably slow everyone down! I wouldn't be surprised to see future teams start the race with nothing but a spare pair of undies and a headband lamp...

I too noticed Phil's line about starting the next leg with no money...but I wonder if it's legal for them to spend the night begging for money, buy some new gear, and give away the change? I'd at least try it...although without her makeup and hair dryer, I expect Kelly to fold very quickly on the next leg.

Still hate Rob, but I loved his "blondes leading the blondes" line, right in front of Amber and Kelly. :D

Smeghead

04-27-2005, 04:18 AM

Futher Important Note to Gretchen: Generally speaking, the inhabitants of Istanbul are not likely to understand Spanish words like "grande" and "rapido."

And I could have sworn I heard Phil tell the old farts that they had to start the next leg with no money. They didn't beg money from the others until after the next leg had begun.

KGS

04-27-2005, 04:29 AM

Oh, forgot to ask: Was anyone able to tell which side of the Bosphorus Strait the pit stop was on? (In other words, did they finally make it to Europe?)

The Big Cheese

04-27-2005, 05:05 AM

the first time they took the money from Team Weeble also. It will be interesting next week to see who gives them money, if they need it. They haven't helped the two teams at all, and Romber probably won't give them any.

Good editing, they cut to Joyce & Uchenna amd team Weeble taking off, next scene is Rob saying how stupid they are. Smooth move. I loved how the smiles turned to such serious looks when they found out 2 teams had already boarded the boat. The look on Ambuh was priceless.

Gotta hand it to Gretchen though, climbing that ladder was difficult, but she made it. Annoyed the hell out of us all night long, but she made it. And even more good news...her backpack is safe!!!

Antonius Block

04-27-2005, 06:20 AM

Oh, forgot to ask: Was anyone able to tell which side of the Bosphorus Strait the pit stop was on? (In other words, did they finally make it to Europe?)
The pit stop was at the Rumeli Hisari (http://members.tripod.com/romeartlover/Galata.html), which is on the European side of the Bosphorus. In fact, since the "Rumeli" part refers to "Roman", which is the term that Mehmet II (who built it) would have used to refer to all of Europe, it really means "European Fortress". On the other side of the Bosphorus is the "Anadolu Hisari" or Anatolian Fortress (in Asia Minor).

They "made it to Europe" as soon as they touched down at Istanbul's airport, then took the ferry back to Asia Minor (Uskudar), then to Kiz Kulesi which is in the middle of the Bosphorus, then back to Uskudar, then back to Istanbul (i.e. Europe).

zut

04-27-2005, 06:41 AM

Another non-elimination leg -- how not-surprising. Still, I was surprised at how interested I was in this episode, even though it was pretty clear half-way through just what order the teams would finish in.

Taxi Assessment

Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Ryan/Chuck and Megan/Heidi and Debbie/Bianca and Susan/Patrick and Ray/Deana andBrian/Greg and Lynn/Alex - All gone, alas.

Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
No one this week.

Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Meredith/Gretchen (holding steady) - Good God, second place! Truly, the Apocalypse is nigh. Second is this team's best showing ever -- and not just numerically, but proportionately, too. They've never beaten half the teams before. Gretchen is partially right, though -- so far this team has simply gotten lucky, episode after episode. They got lucky this episode, too, that Uchenna and joyce decided to help them, and that they were able to get on the earlier plane, well ahead of the trailing two teams. Didja notice, though, how quickly Uchenna and Joyce pulled ahead of Meredith and Gretchen? And how steadily Meredith and Gretchen hemmorhaged time? Yeah, not serious contenders, these two. Just lucky to still be here.

"Hey, Homes!" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Ron/Kelly (downgraded from Passing Lane) - Oh dear, they come in last place, have to give up all their stuff, and then, in addition, they have to spend the next twelve hours all alone together. Talk about adding insult to injury. And Ron and Kelly's placement shows what I suspected -- when the chips are down, they're apt to get smoked by Rob and Amber. So, do they start the next leg newly energized by their predicament, or lacking the, uh, commitment to continue? Any bets?

In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Rob/Amber (downgraded from Cruisin') - Now, I like Rob; I really do. Still, though, I couldn't help but hope that Rob and Amber would come in last on this leg to complete a truly awesome petard-hoisting of magnificant proportions. I'm not exactly sure how Uchenna was able to finagle a faster flight and Rob wasn't, but part of the reason had to be because Uchenna was sure that there was and earlier flight -- thanks to Rob. So Rob and Amber, with Ron and Kelly, wind up fighting in out for last place, purely because Rob couldn't resist fucking with the other teams. Awesome. Cut back on the Survivor tactics, Mariano.

Cruisin' with Earl - or, drivin' on the shoulder, takin' shortcuts, and generally kickin' butt.
Uchenna/Joyce (upgraded from Passing Lane) - Two firsts in a row. Pretty good for this late in the race. (I note in passing that their starting time was awfully close to Ron and Kelly's. Truly, their Fast Forward last week wasn't all that fast.) They get an inadvertent boost from Rob, sure, but they brought it home quite nicely, without getting lost for a change. I'll add, in all seriousness, that whatever Uchenna's motives, it's probably a good strategy to buddy up with the old people -- because whatever happens, you're sure you can beat them in a flat-out footrace to the mat. Unlike beating, say, the POW and the long-legged beauty queen, Rob.

Next week: Last elimination leg, yes? Who's going home? Who?

Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.

Draelin

04-27-2005, 08:19 AM

That was just beautiful. This is the day Rob learns to keep his friggin' trap shut and not try to fuck with the other teams. I've been so hoping his Survivor strategy would blow up in his face. I am a happy, happy woman.

And Gretchen searching for fat people to weigh was hilarious. :)

PsychoBabble

04-27-2005, 08:58 AM

How could Rob and Amber and Team POW have NOT found out about that earlier flight to Istanbul. Were those travel agents lying to them? They definitively said the two teams were on the earliest possible flight. I don't get it!

My guess is that Rob and Amber kept asking for direct flights that got to Istanbul faster, while Uchenna specifically asked if there was a flight connecting through another city that arrived sooner. It totally made my night that Rob's scheming ended up costing him, if only it would have cost them their bags too.

SmackFu

04-27-2005, 09:09 AM

But wasn't the Columns task simple? Who knew?Actually, I thought it was really evil. It was one of those tasks where you do something complicated and if it doesn't work, you have to do it over from scratch. If they had been off on finding one column, they would have had to start again, since they wouldn't have known which number was wrong.

hajario

04-27-2005, 09:24 AM

I'm pretty sure that the whole "Rob's scheming backfired on him" deal was made to look that way due to editing. Everybody would have gone to look for an earlier flight anyway. That's pretty much standard practice. If Rob knew that he had the earliest possible flight, why did he look for a better one too?

In any event, how did it hurt him? He didn't finish last and they're all going to end up on the same flight or waiting outside the same place that doesn't open for six hours very early in the next leg anyway.

If anything it helped him. Now the stronger team, Ron/Kelly, suffered the setback rather than the Old Farts.

Rob and Amber will almost certainly make the final three and then it just a matter of which team in the final three gets lucky enough to get the best cab in the final part of the last leg.

Haj

Jaade

04-27-2005, 09:37 AM

That's one thing I would definitely like to see changed about TAR. The last part shouldn't be about who is lucky enough to get the fastest cab in some American city. If they are going to do that, I think they should make the clues harder, as they did in the first season. People in TAR should know about American cities. The last part of the race should involve some skill and less luck.

KGS

04-27-2005, 09:55 AM

That's one thing I would definitely like to see changed about TAR. The last part shouldn't be about who is lucky enough to get the fastest cab in some American city.
Everyone complains about this, but in reality, it's only happened once. Everyone just seems to remember it was The Evil Flo in TAR3 who got The Lucky Cab™. TAR1 came down to a cab ride, but the native New Yorker team instructed their driver to take a long, roundabout route that probably would have kicked ass in rush hour, but not so much at 4 a.m. :) TAR2 was so close it actually came down to a footrace at the finish.

TARs 4, 5 & 6 all were decided by the team who caught an earlier flight, not a cab.

annieclaus

04-27-2005, 11:19 AM

Rob and Amber will almost certainly make the final three and then it just a matter of which team in the final three gets lucky enough to get the best cab in the final part of the last leg.

Haj

My daughter and I were talking about this over breakfast last Saturday. Here's what we would both like to see:

Rob and Amber and Uchenna and Joyce are neck and neck at the end. Rob and Amber pull back slightly, almost imperceptibly, so that Uchenna and Joyce win and Rob and Amber come in a close second.

I don't think Rob and Amber need the money (even though they would probably pick some up as second place finishers). Uchenna and Joyce obviously do. I think knowing they could have won would be enough for Rob and Amber. And everyone could live happily ever after.

Askia

04-27-2005, 11:23 AM

I thought about that, too. I actually DON'T want that to happen. There's no reason for that to occur out of their current relationship dynamic except Romber decided to pity Uchenna and Joyce -- and who wants to win a million that way?

Okay -- given a choice between no million and pity million, I'll take the pity, (I get sex the same way. *SIGH*) I'd just prefer to see a straight-up win due to superior play.

Flutterby

04-27-2005, 12:09 PM

I'm pretty sure that the whole "Rob's scheming backfired on him" deal was made to look that way due to editing. Everybody would have gone to look for an earlier flight anyway. That's pretty much standard practice. If Rob knew that he had the earliest possible flight, why did he look for a better one too?

He wanted to be doubly sure of course. Planes get diverted or the times changed, sometimes new flights are added recently.

Like PsychoBabble said, it looked like they were asking for direct flights, not the first to ariive. They also appeared to be at a specific plane company, not a general travel agent so the people they were asking might not have had a flight that got in earlier but the travel agent that Uchenna and Joyce and the Weebles went to could see that this company here flies at this time and gets in at this time, but this company over here gets in sooner with a layover in Dubai. That's why you go talk to a travel agent in a general company, not one attached to a specific airline. Romber, Ron and Amber all went to Turkish Air.

middleman

04-27-2005, 12:09 PM

Rob has no pity. He wants the million. NEVER enough millions in the bank account!

I would like to see J/U win, but only if they are the most deserving.

BiblioCat

04-27-2005, 12:28 PM

Liberal

04-27-2005, 02:58 PM

Do the rules allow you to buy more than one pair of tickets? Could you and your partner split up at the travel agent / airport and then compare tickets, discarding the worse ones?

Draelin

04-27-2005, 03:01 PM

Do the rules allow you to buy more than one pair of tickets? Could you and your partner split up at the travel agent / airport and then compare tickets, discarding the worse ones?
I could swear that more than once a team bought tickets, then found a faster flight and bought some more. But I can't give you a cite ... so I don't even know why I'm bothering to post.

Never mind, I need sleep. :)

ElvisL1ves

04-27-2005, 03:06 PM

All tickets are required to be fully refundable, so that means tradeable too. But CBS hasn't put the full rules into the public domain, AFAIK.

I do so love seeing Rob look scared instead of smug.

G&M have been lucky? Sure, but a long enough run of luck adds up to being good. They haven't screwed up that badly or for that long, ever. And, fwiw, they both seem to be entirely decent people, even if they don't emote on-camera as much as some teams.

RitzyRae

04-27-2005, 04:00 PM

I'm with PsychoBabble and Flutterby. The hang up must have been the difference in wording over "faster" meaning "I'm only interested in direct" and "eariler" meaning "Connecting is okay".

And yes, Phil is hot!

Nutty Bunny

04-27-2005, 04:11 PM

I do so love seeing Rob look scared instead of smug.

Yes. That was delicious. I enjoyed that soooooo much.

G&M have been lucky? Sure, but a long enough run of luck adds up to being good. They haven't screwed up that badly or for that long, ever. And, fwiw, they both seem to be entirely decent people, even if they don't emote on-camera as much as some teams.

A lot of people don't like Gretchen, but she kicked ass last night and I think they run a good race when she doesn't get flustered, as with the steel box task a few weeks ago. Yeah, some luck, but a lot of will, too.

Miss South Carolina (1988, by the looks of it) can suck it (although I have no 'it' to be sucked)! I'm not Ron fan, but she's absolutely horrible. Not only because of the POW comment, but taking what Ron said about the race making him want to do certain things before settling down, and then turning it into "you never commit to anything" is such a bitchy, controlling thing to do. So she would rather he give up living his life and settle down with her before he wants to, just so he can spend the rest of his life resenting her. Good call. :rolleyes:

Gangster Octopus

04-27-2005, 04:19 PM

A lot of people don't like Gretchen, but she kicked ass last night and I think they run a good race when she doesn't get flustered, as with the steel box task a few weeks ago. Yeah, some luck, but a lot of will, too.

The steel box thing was completely understandable in my mind. There were 6 clues in 300 boxes, so that was a 1 in 50 chance. But by the time Gretchen got there there was only 1 left or a 1 in 300 ration. Opening up 300 of those boxes could be a bit mind-numbing.

psychobunny

04-27-2005, 06:39 PM

I think they said in the box task that there were 10 clues total, so Gretchen wasn't just looking for one last one. I have to say that I haven't really been bothered by her whining until this leg, especially when she snapped at Meredith about naming the gnome. I'm glad he seemed to brush it off and name Jerome himself. Furthermore, she absolutely kicked butt at the roadblock. There is no way I could do that, and I could see her giving up, especially considering how tired she seemed. I was amazed that she sucked it up and just did it.

What I saw of the flights was that they all originally got the same tickets from the travel agent. Uchenna and Joyce then asked for a way to arrive earlier. Their flight from Delhi was not on Turkish air. Romber went to the Turkish Air counyter to try to get an earlier flight. I think that by asking for an earlier flight, they neglected to ask the agent to look to see if a flight on another airline to a different city could possibly connect to an earlier flight to Istanbul. If they had asked the right question or gone through another travel agent, they might have gotten the earlier flight.

Oh, and "Where's my princess?" I love U&J!

scotandrsn

04-27-2005, 07:28 PM

Askia

04-27-2005, 07:41 PM

... except three legs so far, a couple of vacation trips, celebrity as a professional reality contestant, a free televised wedding, a hottie fiancee... who split half a million with him... and is currently scoring a bunch of free stuff from the registry...

Rob may not have won any of the grand prize(s), [YET!] but he's definitely a competitor, so give the Devil his due.

monstro

04-27-2005, 07:56 PM

I don't find anything likable about Rob. Sorry. The comment about Joyce and Uchenna being stupid stung, particularly since Ron and Kelly are wayyyy dumber than Joyce and Uchenna could ever be. It was just unnecessary meaness. The upside is that the resulting schadenfraude lulled me to sleep last night.

As annoying Gretchen is, I was cheering for her while she was climbing up that wall. I kept worrying that Rob was going to tear up the wall while she was there and diminish her victory. So glad he didn't.

I wanted Uchenna and Joyce to win the Travelocity thing. They didn't get a prize for their first place win last week or this week, and Uchenna's "First place is reward enough" kind of made me sad for them. I don't know why.

zut

04-27-2005, 08:16 PM

I seem to recall Rob asking the Turkish Air agent specifically if there we NO flights on ANY airline through ANY city that would get them there earlier. Sadly, Rob had too high an opinion of his own charisma to suspect that the agent might be somewhat less that completely forthcoming about an option (or knowledge thereof) that might cost Turkish Air the price of 8 tickets.
I seem to recall that, too. However, I also seem to recall that Rob went about his ticket search well after Uchenna had snagged tickets (didn't Uchenna call from the first airport they were at, and Rob looked during their layover at the second airport?). So it's also possible that the flight had filled up in the interim

Askia

04-27-2005, 09:29 PM

zut's right, but fior the sake of completeness here's how TicketGate went down:

All the teams purchased tickets for a 10:20am departure for Dehli with a long layover there, and then an unspecified departure time that arrives in Istanbul at 8:45am the next day.

At the airport, Rob says to Gretchen, "So did you get on the earlier flight to Turkey? No? Not yet?" -- then walks off.

Gretchen relays this information to Uchenna. They assume Rob has gotten aboard an earlier flight. Borrowing a cell phone, Uchenna calls a travel agent and asks, "What is the earliest flight to Istanbul?" Editing would indicate he asked several times and eventually he discovers -- YUP -- there is a flight that leaves at "8pm... Indian Air flight from Dehli to Dubai connecting with a 3:30 flight on Turkish Air from Dubai to Istanbul." He then asks: "And what time will it arrive...? 6:20am tomorrow morning?" A two hour and 25 minute jump on their earlier flight. He reserves the flight for his team as well as Gretchen and Meredith on the spot, and makes arrangements to pick them up in person when they arrive in Dehli. Uchenna is convinced he has made sure his group got on the same early flight Rob thinks he made up. He doesn't even realize yet he's secured first place this leg.

Now here's where it gets interesting: Amber and Rob board the plane to Delhi immediately, probably to get good seats up front, and don't yet know about the 3:30am flight. But Ron and Kelly have overheard Uchenna and do. Kelly even says, "We have to get on that flight." But it was apparently time to board and they don't get the chance to reserve tickets. So while everyone boards the first plane to Delhi, R&A and R&K lose precious booking time in-flight, while Uchenna's group's tickets are already reserved. So in Dehli, while Amber and Rob try and find any earlier flight information at a couple of travel agencies but being told repeatedly there is no earlier flight, all Uchenna's group has to do is pick up their new reserved tickets. But I have to say this -- Rob and Amber, Kelly and Ron all follow through -- they even go to Turkish Air and the travel guy there STILL tells them there is no 3:30am flight (he doesn't check his computer or anything.) Rob calls Uchenna an idiot and accepts this completely, convinced there's no way hes wrong.

Which makes his later nervousness all the more delicious to observe. HA HA!

lorene

04-28-2005, 06:20 AM

Is it really a "common practice" to weigh people on the streets of Istanbul? Why would that be?

I'd hate to live anywhere where I could get randomly attacked by renegade diet cops.

middleman

04-28-2005, 01:24 PM

Is it really a "common practice" to weigh people on the streets of Istanbul? Why would that be?

I'd hate to live anywhere where I could get randomly attacked by renegade diet cops.

Why do you think they call the place "Turkey"? It's all about healthy eating over there.

The Weight Watcher's Lobbyists are VERY powerful in Instanbul!

Hooleehootoo

04-28-2005, 02:25 PM

Robot Arm

04-28-2005, 02:48 PM

C'mon, lorene, you'd be, what, 50? 55? Hardly worth the trouble of weighing.

zut

04-28-2005, 03:57 PM

My tape ran out before the end of the episode! It ended when Gretchen had found her key in the fort. Is there anything interesting to summarize from there to the end of the episode? I gather it was N/E, and that Ron/Kelly came in last. Did they gain or lose time over R/A from chosing the other task at the Detour?
Hard to tell, really. I'd guess they seemed to gain a bit of time, since Ron and Kelly were a couple ferry rides behind Rob and Amber at one point (Ron/Kelly on the gnome island, Rob/Amber passing them on the ferry) and they got to the castle while Rob was getting the key. However, they still finished comfortably behind Rob and Amber, so there wasn't really any doubt (the cameraman got a nice shot of Rob on the Mat, with Ron, still looking for the key in the tower, in the distance behind Rob).

Oh, and Ron and Kelly got a prize from Travelocity, plus they get to spend the Pit Stop together in a five-star hotel room. That'll be fun.

Gangster Octopus

04-28-2005, 04:32 PM

ABout the preview for next week.

It seems like they are going to London, because they are drving the double-decker buses. That's kinda weird because it seems like the wrong direction.

jayjay

04-28-2005, 04:57 PM

That's kinda weird because it seems like the wrong direction.

Note: I don't consider that a spoiler, since they're already going the "wrong" direction (from India to Turkey).

All the better to absolutely fuck with their biorhythms!

Robot Arm

04-28-2005, 06:13 PM

Gangster Octopus

04-28-2005, 06:42 PM

I was wondering about the route, too. I think it would be great if they did a couple legs in England, then had them fly to New York for the finish, but wouldn't check a team in if they hadn't gone the long way around the world.
Well my completely uneducated guess would be that they will go through Scandanavia and Alaska before finishing up somewhere like Topeka, Kansas.

Robot Arm

04-28-2005, 07:02 PM

Well, just a couple legs ago, they sent Uchenna & Joyce and Gretchen & Meredith back to the Road Block because they hadn't followed the exact wording of the clue. But they're always calling this "a race around the world." Which teams do you think would notice if they hadn't actually gone all the way around?

sleepygirl

04-29-2005, 12:40 PM

ElvisL1ves

04-29-2005, 12:52 PM

Aren't the Routemaster double-decker buses used anywhere but the UK? I do recall the opening scenes showing London, though, so that's likely where they'll go next. But there'll be enough time to make another stop in, say, Tokyo to force the race to be around the world.

sleepygirl

04-29-2005, 01:40 PM

Actually, I thought it was really evil. It was one of those tasks where you do something complicated and if it doesn't work, you have to do it over from scratch. If they had been off on finding one column, they would have had to start again, since they wouldn't have known which number was wrong.

well who better to complete this task than an ex military man and a....well....yeah she didn't do much. go RON!

sleepygirl

04-29-2005, 01:54 PM

My daughter and I were talking about this over breakfast last Saturday. Here's what we would both like to see:

Rob and Amber and Uchenna and Joyce are neck and neck at the end. Rob and Amber pull back slightly, almost imperceptibly, so that Uchenna and Joyce win and Rob and Amber come in a close second.

I don't think Rob and Amber need the money (even though they would probably pick some up as second place finishers). Uchenna and Joyce obviously do. I think knowing they could have won would be enough for Rob and Amber. And everyone could live happily ever after.

yeah, but i'm more mean. it's not so much living happily ever after. it has to do with seeing rob's face as they come running up and phil says "rob and amber.....you're team #2" YES that is the money maker baby!!!!!! right draelin!

sleepygirl

04-29-2005, 02:37 PM

Unfortunately, I didn't tape the ep, but here is my recollection re: Romber and POW's tickets:

I seem to recall Rob asking the Turkish Air agent specifically if there we NO flights on ANY airline through ANY city that would get them there earlier. Sadly, Rob had too high an opinion of his own charisma to suspect that the agent might be somewhat less that completely forthcoming about an option (or knowledge thereof) that might cost Turkish Air the price of 8 tickets.

I know a number of people here want to be impressed with Rob, but has it occurred to any of those who are so wowed by his tactics... that he's never actually WON anything?

i'm with you, i'm not fond of rob at all. he's entertaining because most of the time he's being a huge ass. what i don't understand is eveyone's undying devotion to rob, while he's being so nasty and vindictive to all the other teams. i mean yes, that's how you win sometimes, but if it was ANY OTHER TEAM, we'd all be on here yelling and screaming like we were with victoria and what's his name from last season. BUT because is rob from basten, everyone loves him. well i don't, i choose to be different, i am the strong one!! :D