Those camel heads in the market were really disgusting, weren’t they? The one with its tongue hanging out was utterly repulsive, and the one with the greenery tied to the top of its head ( :dubious: ) and hanging out of its mouth was totally surreal. Weird, weird, weird.
Well the BQ’s came in last 2 weeks in a row. And they were so favored for the top three and even to win. They fought hard and played smart most of the time and kept their cool and sense of humor. Kudos.
Don’t have too much respect for the two guys. They seem to always be following another team rather than depending on their own abilities. And when they are forced to defer to their own intelligence they seem to get lost a lot and really grumpy.
Rob and Kim just too whiny and stressed. Seem to be in the final three in spite of their abilities rather than because of them.
Bama Girls, ya gotta give them a lotta credit. They’ve hung in there and never or rarely depended on someone else for choices in roadblocks or directions. They thought ahead and stuck with their decisions and it’s paid off. Karalyn can be annoying with her attitude but I just kind of ignore her like Lyn does. At least she doesn’t throw tantrums like Kim. I think of the three teams left I would like to see Bama win, if for no other reason than they don’t fit the “winners” profile, but they don’t care what others think. They just keep on keeping on.
I agree that their navigational skills are somewhat lacking, but they’ve come in first more often than anyone else so they can’t have been following someone every time. As far as this week, though, their strategy was completely sound. It made no difference which spot any team other than the BQs finished so long as it was either ahead or within 30 minutes of the BQs. By sticking with them, Team Brokeback Models guaranteed themselves a spot in the final three.
Other than tonight’s brief bout of Killer Fatigue they’ve actually been doing pretty well, better than their constant bickering would indicate. Their bickering is almost always aimed at each other and not outward at other teams or locals and it hasn’t interfered to the point of self-destruction.
Are you joking? Or have you been watching a different show than the rest of us? They made enormous numbers of decisions based on what other people did, and evn gave their doing so a cute little nickname. The Six-Pack was all about being dependent on what other people did and decided.
The Barbies were annoying. If my neighbours were ever home, they’d probably have pounded the wall after my whoop of joy when they got eliminated.
Karalyn gets points for admitting she doesn’t do stress well and apologizing. Lyn gets lots of points for knowing Karalyn so well that she just lets her grump when she wants to grump. Both get tons of points for just doing the awful tomato thing once they got there. I thought the tomato-mushers would be SOL so I thought it was great that both mushing teams found clues real fast.
And Rob and Kim are growing, which warms my heart. The boys are fine but I’d rather one of the other two groups win - Bama because they’re all girl or Rob & Kim because they seem to be turning into an actual team.
The parts I bolded could be applied to the BQs, too. I was really sorry to see them go.
An interesting Detour choice this week–generally I’d say picking the needle-in-a-haystack Detour is a mistake, but it seemed to be much faster this time. Witness that Rob & Kimberly started the task, got frustrated, quit, restarted, found the clue, and left…all before Lyn & Karlyn even started. Yet, Lyn & Karlyn came in second.
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 and Peter & Sarah and David & Mary and Erwin & Godwin - Teams we get to see one more time, cheering at the mat.
Dustin & Kandice - (down from “Stopping”) - I said last week this team would have to be both good and lucky. They certainly weren’t lucky, and coming in last this week wasn’t all that good, either. To be fair, I thought the design of this leg was poor. The two bunching points halfway through the episode essentially meant that this leg was decided by the Detour performance, and Dustin & Kandice’s good racing in the first half was meaningless. However (hindsight being 20/20), they probably should have done the tomato Detour. Since they were effectively a half-hour behind, taking a risk on a needle-in-a-haystack Detour would have been good strategy. But they didn’t, and the needle-in-a-haystack turned out to be a very good bet, and now they’re out of it.
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.
Lyn & Karlyn - (holding steady) - Tyler & James said it, and I believe it: Lyn & Karlyn are the weakest team from the final three. They’re physically slow and don’t seem to make decisions well. That’s not saying it’s impossible for them to win: they’re no dummies, and the other two teams aren’t perfect. However, their strategy has to be hoping the other teams screw up badly enough for Lyn & Karlyn to come out on top. Not exactly a self-sufficient strategy.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Rob & Kimberly - (holding steady) - This team always seems on the verge of crumbling from the stress, but never quite does. I’ve come to the conclusion that having tantrums is their coping strategy. Not the best coping mechanism in the world, but apparently not the worst either, judging by their current first place standing. This team strikes me as being a step behind Tyler & James, but only a step. Barring the ever-present car trouble, they’re poised to take advantage of any error by Tyler & James.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Tyler & James - (holding steady) - The favorite to win. Also the favorite to make some horrendous navigational mistake and wind up in Timbuktu instead of Peoria. If they don’t make too large a mistake, I expect them to win it all. The question is, how large is too large?
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
No one this week.
Next week: The finale!
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
Tyler and James have always been of the opinion that size doesn’t matter.
And why yes, I did snigger my little head off when they were talking about seasoning their meat at the Roadblock.
Oh, silly me, I thought The Blonds got Phil-iminated!
So, did we ever really learn how the BQs got to the Roadblock so quickly? I may have zoned during the first part of the show, but I don’t think it was ever explained. Did they just drive really, really fast and not get lost while the other teams floundered about?
The BQs had a local navigating for them. I’m guessing he knew a faster route. The other teams played follow-the-cab-driver.
As best as I could tell, that’s pretty much it. They must have made up enough time on the road, that when Rob & Kim and *Lyn got lost in Casablanca, it was enough for the BQs to pull far ahead of them.
Had the BQs actually passed anybody on the drive to Casablanca, the editors probably would have shown that segment. They love showing the “Pass them!” shots from the cars / taxis / nonstandard vehicles.
I wonder if that was partially because the giant teams didn’t plan.
They only had to drive four miles (v. the 9 that the tomato teams did) and then walk a mile. If they’d gotten a map and planned the walking route during their cab rides or instantly found someone to guide them from point to point - they probably would have done it faster. Instead, both teams had a lot of trouble finding the giant costumes in the first place, and both had to stop several times to get further directions on where to go. That probably slowed both of those teams way down.
Did you see the guy she threw it at duck out of the way? She almost hit him, which would have been awesome. I think my favorite part, though, was Karlyn lying down in the pile of tomatoes, just squishing with her feet.
Best Detour ever. That “hot giant chick” comment had me rolling from the moment I saw it on my Tivo screen. It just sounded so much like something my friends would say.
I do feel bad for the BQs, if only because they were good racers screwed by the Maze Bunch. But hey, the rules are the rules, and they’re out. I got kind of sick of everyone else being so worried about where the Blondes were, so it’s just as well that they’re out.
I, for one, would love to see Rob’s face if the *lyns beat them to the mat.
Don’t ever watch this show with a vegan. Any time there’s an eating challenge she goes on and on about it. “That’s not funny!” was her comment of choice last night. She’s also sounded off at length about the fish eyes and the cow lips from earlier eps. I’m a vegetarian myself so I’m not thrilled with the meat-eating challenges either, but how she thinks that a) I don’t know after knowing her for 15 years that she thinks it’s gross and b) that I would rather hear her jibber-jabbering about it instead of hearing the show is beyond me.
My personal moment of Zen came when all the teams went running up that long staircase to the pit stop…except for 'Bama, who took the escalator. 
Sucks that the BQs lost. And it sucks even more that the first all-female team to make the top 3 is a team that does NOT deserve to be there! We’ve also got a boring Alpha Male team (who seem to be doing better with navigation recently) and an annoying Bickering Couple who, IMO, are actually the favorites to win – as stated earlier, their arguments actually seem to make them work faster & better. (Hmm, I wonder if their last name is “Paolo”?)
BTW, there was some discussion last week about the All-Star Race, and whether or not the BQ’s were part of it. Well, on this morning’s Early Show (and this is random speculation, but I’ll spoiler-box it just in case):
The BQ’s were not interviewed live in the New York studio, but were shown in an interview from “a few days ago” in a non-descript room that could’ve been taped anywhere. Such as, a Pit Stop, or even Sequesterville perhaps?!? Now, it could’ve been a scheduling issue, so it doesn’t prove anything…but this is the first time ANY eliminated team has been taped in advance, so it’s still possible that the BQ’s are currently racing in TARRR as we speak!
The tomato task was, hands down, the best task ever on TAR. I was laughing so hard tears were rolling down my cheeks and we had to go back four or five times on the DVR to watch it again. I think the task elicited the personality issues of Rob and Kimberly perfectly. She’s flipping out about the impossibility of the task and he’s spending all his time flipping out in a fight with the tomato throwers.
A thing of beauty, and all by itself worth sitting through one of the lesser seasons of TAR.
I think without the really unpleasant member of the Bama team, they would be much more likeable. As it is, I can’t really bring myself to pull for them. I also loved the fact that they took the escalator up to the mat.
So Otto, what would you call the counterpart task to “Chuck It”?
I’m not glad to see the BQs go. All the teams are annoying, and am having a hard time rooting for any of the last three, but the BQs would have made for a far more interesting final leg.
I’m having a hard time drumming up any wild enthusiasm for this season, in general. The changes in the NEL are long overdue, but aside from two eliminations in the first leg, and the one leg when two teams had to pair up for a task, the “surprises” we were promised haven’t been very surprising. I really wish they would not have had so many eating challenges this season – it’s like they ran out of imagination for the challenges so decided “hey, let’s make them eat some disgusting indigenous food product!” Have them bungee jump or solve a puzzle or smash stuff (always fun) to get clues. One of the best challenges they did a few seasons ago was to have the racers buy goods from a market and deliver the items to an orphanage – that was really cool. And next season, please, more CAMELS!
Oh, and do another tomato challenge. That was fun to watch, though it must have hurt like hell to get hit with a tomato.
I liked the Beauty Queens. I’m sorry they are gone. I have no realy feelings toward any of the 3 remaining teams. I really don’t care.
One thing I wonder…the mistakes the BQ’s made this week and last week, like missing the sign for the detour…I wonder if killer fatigue was starting to set in. As pageant allumni, they would be used to faking it as far as letting fatigue, frustration show. So it might not have been aparent to anyone but them just how tired they were.
Schlep it?
LOVED this detour.
Can’t speak for Otto, but I’d make all the giants female, and call it “Chick It.” But, then again, I think I used up all my mojo on “Flotillas or Chinchillas.”