Amazing Race - 12/11/02

Cafe Society
1

As promised, I’m kicking off the pre-stage 11 hype.

The four remaining teams, in order of stage 10 finish, my prediction on their chances of making it to the all-important final three, and projected finish.

1. Derek & Drew
Finals chances: Excellent
Projected finish if they make it: 2nd

Make no mistake about it, this gutsy pair has proven a lot of people wrong, not the least of which are the teams they’ve left in their dust. I can’t point to any one thing; they just have more focus, stamina, grit, and (yes) brains than almost everyone else. After the close call in the first leg, they’ve come back roaring. A lot like last year’s New England Patriots, come to think of it.

Nonetheless…I just don’t see them winning it all. They’ve been known to make little mistakes, such as nearly losing a route marker card. That’s not a big concern in the early going or even the middle stages, but it can be deadly in crunch time. Besides, and maybe it’s just me, but reality programming just doesn’t seem to reward the big favorite. Remember Frank & Margarita, who finished up in their hometown and still got only second? Remember Tina Wesson and Ethan Zohn, who didn’t look like they’d even make it to the round of five? Now the twins look like they’re going to win in a walk. History repeats itself…both good and bad.

2. Ken & Gerard
Finals chances: Practically a lock
Projected finish if they make it: Winner

They’re fat. They’re bald. They’re out of shape. They’re unstoppable. Maybe it’s mind over matter, maybe it’s the excellent chemistry, maybe it’s just that kind of year for fat, bald people. What can’t be denied is that they’ve been a force all the way, and they haven’t looked bad once. All they have to do is get to the finals, and everything else is just a can 'o corn.

3. Flo & Zach
Finals chances: Good
Projected finish if they make it: 3rd

One of the most entertaining or disturbing things, depending on where you’re coming from, on any reality program is seeing these peoples brains slowly crumble to pieces. (Who was it who added 3, 2, and 1, and got 5? And the no one even tried to correct him.) That’s what I’m seeing in Flo, and lemme tell ya, it does not make for fun TV. And that, sadly, is what’s going to keep this team from getting a shot at winning. For want of a better choice of partner, several hundred thousand dollars are lost. Sad.

4. Teri & Ian
Finals chances: Doubtful
Projected finish if they make it: 3rd

I’ve already said everything about Ian I care to say. (Man, what a pill…) Endurance will be their undoing, and I don’t see them finishing better than 3rd no matter what.

2

Maybe this is a show that rewards intelligence and these two have it in spades: they phoned in their plane reservations when everyone else was waiting in line, they can read maps well, they speak several languages, they don’t get hysterical when something goes wrong, etc.

Fenris

3

I think its more that they are actually having fun running the Race. From staring down Phil at the Pit Stop to making a somersault in the fountain, it is obvious that they are enjoying themselves every step of the way. Sometimes, attitude is everything.

4

There are a couple of things that worry my about Ken/Gerard. I want them to win. I really do. But, they need to do a better job of picking a detour and sticking with it.

5

I hope Ken/Gerard also win, however…
Wouldn’t it be cool if Teri and Ian win, and she publicly dumps his unpleasant ass right then and there?

(wishful thinking, I know)

And for some reason the twins scare me. A few times when the camera has been on them, they have had NO expression. Completely dead faces. Is anyone home? hello?

6

I think these two understand the concept of “sunk costs” much better than say, Flo does. After working on a Detour and understanding it better, the teams need to ask themselves: ‘Would we be better off spending the time to go to the new detour site, or continuing on with this one?’. A person like poor Zach might think as follows: ‘this has turned out to be much harder than it seemed. But, if we stop now, Flo will complain that we wasted all that time.’

But time wasted can’t be recovered, so it should not enter into one’s decision making.

Actually, when K and G were digging for the clay pots in the desert, I thought they dug too deep in one area. I would have tried digging in some other place, for it seems that they did not do enough to determine if their grid square did not have a pot, or if in fact the pots were buried very deep.

7

How could this have happened? The two most annoying teams that ever raced take the top two spots. I should have known from the first episode - the Wonder Twins really are dumber than rocks. Ken and Gerard weren’t much better. All four brothers were running around like headless chickens. Stupid Flo, supposedly in an alliance with a twin, gives the game away to the bald brothers then rationalizes it away. Zach’s passive-aggressive approach this episode really annoys me. Those two deserve each other. Ian, very oddly, made it through the whole episode without yelling at Teri. Now I don’t know who to root for next week - the season finale.

8

Oops, sorry. I started a clone thread!
Was too upset by the results of tonight’s show. Waaaaaahhhh!
Mea culpa.
(Actually, I looked to see if there was already a thread. . . and couldn’t find this one. Must be the upset state of mind.)

9

As much as I dislike Ian, I must say he and Terry ran a great leg of the race.

I didn’t think it was possible, but Flo actually got worse. If I were Zach, I’d have sold Flo in the marketplace and continued the race with the basket of fruit as my partner. Be about as helpful, and far more quiet.

K & G aren’t dumb at all, it obviously was a confusing box placement. The way the sold the baskets of fruit was genious.

Doublemints - I actually grew to like them, was a shame they didn’t make it.

10

:smack: My spelling, however, is certainly less than genius.

11

Three words:

Anyone. But. Flo.

Ok, a few more words. Ian is useful from time to time and can be gallant on rare occasion. Teri and he have a weird relationship but…it seems to work for them.

Flow however, is the most useless, shrewish, evil, shrieking harpy I’ve ever had the misfortune to see. If I were Zach, I woulda hit 'er and I haven’t hit anyone in a decade.

If Ken and Gerard win, cool. My favs win the race.
If Ian and Teri win. eh. At least they both worked for it and at least they want it.
If Flow and Zach win, I shall vomit.

Fenris

12

Yaaaayyy, Teri & Ian!!! These guys are unstoppable. I hope you all are nicer to Ian now, since we’ve learned he’s a Vietnam vet. That would screw up anybody’s personality. Hopefully his visit there put to rest whatever ghosts that are making him act like an asshole.

I cried when Flo & Zach took second. Seriously. The good news is that they are bound to lose, without Drew to hang on to. The bad news is, we’ve got to endure TWO MORE HOURS of that shrill immature harpy. Even worse, probably.

K&G broke the “4th Elimination” curse, and it’s basically between them and Terian for the win. But I think T&I will take it, because they are further ahead, they are more evil, and (most importantly) they know how to WORK the airports.

I wonder if the Twins could have simply checked in, taken the penalty, and hoped for the best? It’s only 30 minutes, right?

It’s a sad state of world affairs when VIETNAM is one of the safest regions to hold an American reality show in. At least the country itself is doing well, it seems. (Funny how all the citizens were laughing at them…probably saying, “Ha ha, you American, we kick you butts!”)

13

No way! I agree that T&I are more evil, but no-one works transportation (airports. cabs, etc) as well as K&G. Notice that they the only team smart enough to call for 2 cabs this episode (2, in case the Wonder twins grabbed the first one) and NO-ONE reads maps as well as Ken.

Frankly, my money is on K&G. Ian got ahead this round because he knew the country and it sounded like he had a pidgen knowledge of the language which is a HUGE advantage. I just don’t think they’re that strong.

Heh. And the bit at the end where each of the teams were talking to the camera and FloNZach said “We’re young, we’re strong, we can win any footrace with the other teams”…

Heh. Like you did last episode where you two and K&G were tied and there was a footrace and Flo took 2 steps and whined “It’s tooooooo haaaaaarrrrrrddd” and quit while K&G bounded to second place? Sorry Zach. You can’t win with a millstone named Flo around your neck.

And as an aside, while T&I are more evil than K&G, No-one’s more evil (an ineffectual, shrieky, whiny, snivelly, stupid sort of evil, granted. But still evil) than Flo.

Lookit the airport incident. She and Zach are in different customs lines. In an airport. In Viet-Nam. In Ho-Chi-Min City. Where there are guards with AK-47s. Post 9-11. And the silly bitch is shrieking that Zach didn’t just shove his way to the front of the line? Hey Shrewbitch: The 7 minutes you lost are a whole lot less than the 7 hours you’d loose if you were detained for suspicious behavior, or the who-knows-how-long if you were actually arrested. Just a clue, Flo: one doesn’t play games with airport security, especially when the guards are armed with AK-47s.

But that’s not the worst part: Zach has done ALL the work on this trip. He’s put up with her stupid whims. He help her when she freaked out rappelling. He’s done every non-fun Detour. What does the harpy do when Zach grudgingly admits that he’s uncomfortable cutting lines? She starts shrieking that it’s “irrational” and nothing like her meltdown when she was rappelling because her life was in danger when rappelling. What compassion. :rolleyes:

I hope someone throws a bucket of water on her and melts her.

Fenris

14

I am just so very glad that finnally, a team that I really like made it to the final 3. First season, Drew and Kevin got booted in 4th place. Second season, Oswals and Danny were 5th I think. This year, a team I really like makes it. I was starting to think I had a curse or something. Not that I dis-liked either of the teams that won the first two seasons, I just didn’t like them as much as some of the other ones.

15

I was absolutely shocked when it turned out that Zach was the one carrying the fruit basket. I was sure Flo would do that since they have done a wonderfl job of evenly portioning out tasks and roles.

She is a waste. Until she starts playing this game topless, she could be replaced by a potted fern and we’d all be better off.

16

Being a Vietnam vet is now an excuse for being a jerk? Vietnam or no Vietnam, Ian is a jerk of the first order, the very epitome of the ugly American.

17

If Ken and Gerard win, cool. My favs win the race.
If Ian and Teri win. eh. At least they both worked for it and at least they want it.
If Flow and Zach win, I shall vomit.
What Fenris said!
And my son said to say this: Worst. Episode. Ever!

18

What Fenris said. I also must grudgingly admit that Ian is acting better now, or maybe the editors are just showing him in a better light now that we all have Flo to hate. I have to wonder if she is watching the show now and realizing how horrible she acted. I will be interested to see any post-show interviews with her and Zach, to see if they are even speaking any more.

Please, please, let Ken and Gerard win. I think they have just as good a chance as anyone, even in third, because I’m sure the producers arranged for them to get bunched up again to ensure a tight, exciting last leg.

I thought the twins ran a good race, it must be frustrating to lose over something so little like just not seeing the flag right away. Just goes to show how any moment something can change the whole race.

19

Oh, yeah. Flo is pure evil. If we get to blame Ian’s being a jerk on his being a Vietnam vet (though I did like him okay in this episode–he’s much better tempered when winning, which is sort of sad), I vote we blame Flo’s nature on her name. To be young and to have an old harpy’s name must turn you into an old harpy.

Ken and Gerard kind of irked me this episode (and they were my favorites) because they wouldn’t help the twins like they were helped. I do understand it’s a game, though, and ethics get a little squirrely. And it’s really not as though they’re pure evil. But the twins, I’m gonna miss them. They were sort of growing on me.

Agreed with Fenris et al. Ken and Gerard to win, Teri and Ian to take the silver, and Zach and Flo in last. Actually, what I’d really like is Zach and Flo to win and then her to drop dead of a heart attack, thereby leaving him with all the money. I’m not really wishing Flo dead, you understand. Just if she died, I wouldn’t really mind. And Zach deserves the money for dragging her stupid ass through the whole race. Really, he should have just put her on his back and carried her literally as well as figuratively.

20

I’ll just say ‘What Fenris said’ too… And also what Mullinator said. I never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather have T&I win than Flo as well. Man I hate that immature freak.

Didn’t Zach say something about being happy when the race ends, so he doesn’t have to endure Flo shouting at him any more? That could either mean that Flo acts differently when she’s not under stress, or that he’s looking forward to never seeing her again :slight_smile:

Gotta disagree with annieclaus’s son though. I thought this was an excellent episode. Had me on the edge of my seat because I thought K&G were going to get eliminated. Didn’t care that much about the wonder twins anyway.

Btw, Atrael, both the Frats and the Chas finished 4th. It was widely believed to be a curse (the 4th place curse). I’m glad to see it broken this time too.