Amazing Race 10/15 - "My TV Guide Lists No Quote!"

Cafe Society
21

I know this is going against the grain, but the more I think about Peter, the more I like the little goober. He has (possibly inadvertantly) done something quite noble and heroic. If you want to think about it a second, you might guess what I’m about to say…

One of the things that “differently abled” people constantly say is that they want to be treated like anyone else. Peter seems comfortable enough around Sarah to give her no special treatment, no coddling, no patronizing hand up every time she falls down. He talks to her without pretense, without talking down to her or pussy footing around her disability. As a result, Sarah is extremely independent and out in the world doing things like doing triathlons and the Amazing Race, rather than sitting at home like many people in her situation. The downside for Peter is he gets the “mean guy” edit and it seems to be laid down pretty thick in this last episode, too. I don’t think he’s as psychotic as Jonathan, but he is a type-A personality like Colin. But that also gets the job done in a race situation, hence their high finishes. Laid back teams like the Godwins tend to enjoy the scenery at the expense of finishing faster.

Feel free to remove the spoilers in replies, thanks.

22

As everyone’s said - Peter is a bigger ass every single week. He doesn’t annoy me as much as Jonathan, but a lot. And in a different way.

Really happy they’re not making people beg in Chennai. That would just be wrong on every single possible level.

I really like the Chos.

Why did the teams choose so poorly for the roadblock? Driving is not physically challenging - why were they choosing Peter & Rob & Mr. Kentucky to drive rather than the other half of the couple?

23

I don’t think Peter has a whole lot to do with Sarah’s being out in the world running triathlons. They’ve only been dating “recently” according to the show. Although I suppose they might have been friends or she may have been a client before they started dating, I’m not really clear on that.

Peter is giving Sarah “special treatment” by constantly and repeatedly offering “encouragement” when she neither wants nor needs it. She’s told him more than once to chill, and his response to that has been that he wants to drop his petals and fold his tent. Add that to his performance from last week where, in response to what seemed to be pretty genuine encouragement on Sarah’s part Peter snotted about it and threatened to quit the race. I do think his constant stream of “encouragement” constitutes talking down to her, because he’s treating her like someone who needs constant encouragement and she’s not. It’s patronizing. He treats her like a child, or a project.

24

All three of them have been doing the driving for the team so maybe out of habit the driver drove. I can’t imagine it would be easy for Sarah to operate a clutch with a prosthetic foot.

25

Once again, I loved the football delay, as I was still putting my daughter to bed at 8pm (It’s a long process). So, even though I was tired from running a half marathon yesterday (yes, I am a shameless braggart), I stayed up and watched.

I’m not nearly as bothered by Peter as I was by Jonathan. He might not be right for Sarah, and he might have some qualities related to his motivation of her that are questionable, but he’s not downight explosive and mean. I don’t have much of a problem with him, personally. Well, except for his chewing whatever he was eating last night with his mouth open.

That wild rice detour was clearly the wrong choice. In general, I do agree with choosing something you can control (ingredients for art) over something you can’t (a live animal), but in this case, the time needed for the art far outweighed the potential for runaway crocodiles. For once, leaving one detour task to go to the other was a good move.

And, yes, add me to the list of those who agree with the new NEL penalty. I like, too, how it’s best if you come in first, but even if you don’t and you have the 30-min penalty, you do still have a chance of staying in.

26

Just recently became a viewer so some of my comments and questions may seem wierd.

The Detour challenges seemed really lopsided this week. Is that normal? Is the challenge to choose the task that will take the shortest time? Or are they normally fairly comparable and the teams need to choose one that suits their skills best?

Also, it seems that I recall on a previous post that cell phones were against the rules. So why wasn’t Peter’s use on the train penalized?

Peter seems to me to be someone who’s good at dishing it out but can’t take it. One of those control freaks who’s a real bully to his female partner but really insecure in the rest of his life thus needing the partner to constantly kiss his butt even though his only response is further abuse. That may seem rather harsh, but he just seems to fit that profile.

That line on the bus “Don’t let anyone touch me.” was too much. Hence the phrase “ugly American”. And did you notice that on the return bus ride that the models had their noses covered with kerchiefs?..

27

Depends a lot on the Detours themselves. Sometimes you’ll get one that seems quick to do but it’s very far away versus one that’s more complicated but very close. Or you’ll get one that requires a lot of physical strength versus one that requires more skill. Or you’ll get one that requires breaking bottles over each others’ heads versus learning a dance (best Detour ever).

Teams aren’t allowed to take their own cell phones with them but there’s no rule about borrowing someone else’s.

In fairness, there have been a number of incidents on public transportation in India where female Racers have been touched inappropriately, so I can’t really blame (was it Kimberly?) Kimberly for that one. As for the kerchiefs, dude, India smells bad. No argument at all with wearing something to cut the smell.

28

They can use cellphones. They just can’t have them. Meaning that they’ve always been allowed to borrow a phone, but they can’t be carrying one around on them.

29

Love the new NEL penalty! Especially in this case, where it appears that the *lyns and the *wins and Mary & David might be sharing info and money. I wonder how long that will last, though. Will one of the other teams be willing to fall on their swords so that Mary & David can stay? Or will the Yield actually matter this time? Certainly it could affect their strategies. If they have one.

30

Ah, the first non-elimination this week, right on schedule. Too bad the editing gave it away–David & Mary were in last place for a while. In their interview earlier in the ep (but clearly filmed after the Pit Stop), they talked like they were still in it. Ergo, a non-elim.

As other people have said, I like the additional time penalty for coming in last, rather than the boring steal-all-your-possessions “twist.” With much of the final placement this week determined by airport manoevering (and thus a certain amount of luck), it’s a bit hard to determine the import of the placement.

Taxi Assessment

Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Bilal & Sa’eed and Vipul & Arti and Kellie & Jamie and Duke & Lauren and Tom & Terry - Living it up in Sequesterville.

Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
David & Mary - (holding steady) - David & Mary finish at the very end, as predicted. They were done in by the airlines, yes, and it’s hard to completely blame them for that. However, of any of the teams, this one can least afford bad luck. They had better hope for an early bunch next episode, and subsequent lengthy and confusing tasks that will drop other teams behind them. Otherwise (and even “if then”), they’re toast.
Lyn & Karlyn - (holding steady) - Eh. Slow and steady and the most obvious candidates to go should David & Mary catch some luck.

Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
No one this week.

"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Rob & Kimberly - (holding steady) - I still don’t quite have a handle on this team. They seem to be comfortably out of danger every week, but not quite championship calibre, you know?
Dustin & Kandice - (up from “Stopping”) - A strong bounce from last week, ending with a second place this week. Maybe not as significant as it could be, given their aiport luck, but still this was the easy leg they needed.

In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Erwin & Godwin - (holding steady) - Nice move with the fake cell phone. And by “nice move,” I mean, “have you learned nothing from Boston Rob?” I swear, something juvenile will be the death of this team yet.
Peter & Sarah - (holding steady) - Yeah, yeah. More drama, another top finish. I wish this team would just implode already. As much as Peter is an annoying prick, this team looks like a lock for the final three.
Tyler & James - (down from “Cruisin’”) - The week after I bump this team up to the highest bracket, they have to finish next-to-last with an uninspiring performance. On the one hand, this could be a wake-up-call; on the other, they did pick the wrong Detour. They’re lucky David & Mary had worse luck. I still think this is the team to beat, but this week they show they’re beatable.

Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
No one this week.

Next week: I’ll betcha next week is the first appearance of the Fast Forward (and maybe the Yield as well). With the challenge set to David & Mary to come in first or else, the existance of a FF is the perfect opportunity to inject even more tension.

[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]

31

To add to what Otto said, sometimes the Detours are (or appear to be) roughly comparable in terms of time. However, quite often the quicker Detour will a) be scarier, b) require more physical strength, or c) be somehow weird or gross.

Basic Detour choosing methodology to minimize time spent is:

  1. Always choose the scarier Detour.
  2. Never choose a chance-based Detour unless you know you are (or will be) in last place.
  3. Never choose an animal-based Detour unless this conflicts with Rule 1.
  4. Always choose a Detour requiring greater physical strength unless your team cannot do it.
  5. Remember to factor in travel time, especially in gridlocked or hard-to-navigate locales.
  6. If it’s gross, do it.

I’m sure other fans will be able to modify this for greater accuracy.

32

I missed about the first 20 minutes. Can someone give me a quick recap of the fake cell phone and airline stuff?

33

Me, too. Somebody on the production team got smart! The loss of belongings and money never seemed to be a big deterrent to teams before. This penalty will be a real nail biter! Bravo, TAR.

And I’m in the “Hating Peter” canoe. Although Sarah seemed to be very huggy on him when they came in first! (She’ll get over it once they get back to wherever they came from.)

34

I agree. Moreover, when the going gets tough, he’s the one who wants to go home, not Sarah! He’s just a nasty piece of work!

35

The CBS Website has an official rundown of every episode if you need it. In any case, at the beginning of the ep, teams are instructed to take a train to Hanoi and from there fly to India. Government regulations in Vietnam require airline tickets to be purchased at a travel agency, and not at the airline ticket counter.

All teams bunch together for the train trip. During the trip, one of the Cho Bros pulls out a fake cell phone and mimics a conversation with a travel agency. (To “get into the heads” of the other teams, Mr. Cho says.) That prods Peter into borrowing a real cell phone and making real reservations with a real travel agency so the Chos’ “trick” doesn’t look so tricky any more.

In Hanoi, the teams split, heading for different travel agencies, and a fairly intricate reservation dance ensues, with different teams getting different flights, then connecting onto the same flight (or not), or changing reservations during a layover in India (or not). This turns out to be fairly critical, as all teams wind up on three flights, and those flights essentially determine the order of the final finish for the episode.

36

Peter’s arrogant little smirk when Sarah is talking to him is what gets me. I think their “relationship” is complicated in terms of how much he wants to control/how much she needs encouragement but doesn’t like to admit it, but that arrogant look on his face when she’s talking to him, and when she’s upset, just drives me nuts.

If two people are in a relationship, or even just friends for goodness sake, you don’t roll your eyes and take on an aggressively dispassionate demeanor when the other person is genuninely upset. You don’t have to agree with whatever she’s saying, but you give her the respect of accepting that she’s upset at that moment instead of eating your damn Indian crackers with far more passion than you’re willing to extend to your partner.

Can’t stand that kind of arrogance and self-centeredness. Makes me want to bitch slap him.

37

I’d take issue with #5 on your list – by all accounts from teams in previous seasons, while we are told how far away each detour option is, the racers aren’t. So while you notice the models asked someone about where the temple was that the art detour option occurred, nobody knew that the crocs would be nine miles away unless they could also find someone to tell them the location of that detour option. And nine miles in Indian traffic could turn into a lifetime, so choosing the scarier detour in this case might end up being the slower one if there were traffic/lost cabbie problems.

Actually, that’s one thing I’ve noticed this season – the options are far, far closer in terms of difficulty and there hasn’t been a clearcut choice for faster one yet. Presumably if we get to bungee jumping vs. walking, that will happen, but even there we at home don’t see the waiting for a turn to go and lengthy safety briefings that can slow down even the most apparently fast option.

I don’t think Peter treats Sarah “normally” at all. If anything, he accentuates her disability by refusing to make legitimate allowances for it. People with disabilities do have limitations, and accepting and working around those limitations is, IMO, treating them with far more dignity than just ignoring them and pushing them to do things that they physically can’t. Which in Sarah’s case is running faster – Peter KNOWS her knee is blown out and said in an early episode that they didn’t have the tools with them on the race to fix it, but he still acts as if she can run just as fast as she ever could. That’s not fair to her at all. Not to mention the way he treats her like his own personal pet project, not a girlfriend and certainly not a human being. I find his behavior offensive in the extreme. And I say this as someone who has a disabled person in my immediate family, so I appreciate the realities of dealing with a disability.

38

Best Non-Elim Punishment Ever. So much better than the mugging and the begging. I’m actually quite relieved. This punishes the last team in a way that actually means something. There have been people who’ve begged more money than the other teams received before even leaving the pit stop. This makes so much more sense.

And Peter’s a giant horse’s ass.

39

Thanks for the recap, zut.

The rules for choosing a detour are good. Does anyone have rules for booking flights?

I like the new non-elimination penalty so far, but I reserve final judgment until I see how it plays out in practice. For one thing, it means the next leg pretty much can’t be a non-elim; wouldn’t make sense to have a team “marked for elimination”, serve a possible 30-minute penalty, finish last and still be in the race. And if you can’t have non-elim legs back-to-back, the contestants can start to predict when they’ll happen. Also, it really depends on how the next leg plays out. Sometimes a 30-minute penalty is signifigant (like two legs ago after the birdcage-or-bricks detour in Vietnam), sometimes the teams are so far apart at the end that 30 minutes won’t make the slightest difference.

40

(1) Always ask, “Is this the earliest flight to arrive?” not “Is this the fastest flight?” because they’re not always the same.
(2) Always ask the ticket agent to check with other carriers.
(2a) If you don’t trust the ticket agent, book first, then ask around.
(3) Fear not the connecting flight, unless you might miss your connection.
(3a) If you’re connecting through Paris, make sure both flights are leaving from the same airport. Orly =! DeGaulle, and JFK =! Newark =! LaGuardia.
(4) Always look for a better option in the connecting airport.
(5) Do not connect to Johannesburg, South Africa through JFK if you are leaving from Rio de Janiero. Because that’s just stupid.
(6) Make sure your tickets are for coach before you leave the ticket counter!

Obviously, these rules only apply if you’re finding your own flights, and not spoon-fed transportation.