The old ballpark site is a parking lot for the current one. The big map was set up on the site of the old park.
Anyone else feel a little sorry for Cindy?
“Maybe, now that we’ve traveled around the world together, competed hard and won a million dollars, with my husband-to-be displaying a smart way to figure out what he needed to know quickly enough to keep our lead and generally being supportive throughout the race, my family will finally accept him.”
For a second at the end I thought she was going to go into Emilio Estevez’s monologue.
I caught that too. Didn’t she say in the same speech that her parents expected her to be the VERY BEST at everything? If you think along those lines, then yeah, she had a crapload to prove to her parents re Ernie.
Preemptive strike before anyone says anything negative: It’s a cultural thing and not necessarily tied to Asian. It happened in my family, and some paid the price when things weren’t 100% proved.
The obvious thing (to me) is that teams with “home team” advantage in the last leg, never, ever win. IIRC, not once, in the entire history of the Race.
I can’t stand Cindy, but let’s give credit where it’s due, she and whatshisname had excellent racing. She controlled her hysteria (mostly) and they raced really, really well.
This was a really good season. The few negatives were no Airport Drama at all and almost no money drama.
Other than that, solid clues that almost always had a relationship to the country, no really obnoxious teams, no inter-racer drama…all pluses. Really, a return to form for the race.
Anyone else get the feeling that if they hadn’t won (or at least made the final 3), and their elimination could in any way, shape or form be laid at Ernie’s feet, that the engagement wouldn’t have lasted much longer?
I did like Ernie’s comment after Cindy’s “A+ student” speech - “Well, you’re an A+ student. I’m a B+ student. Maybe more of a C.”
I make maps for a living, I have only ever driven a stick for 20 years(except for rentals), a top 10 US Masters swimmer and no animal is going to break on me!
Sharks, rays, big fish, I’ve seen them in the wild while swimming. Never been bungee jumping but I’m not afraid of heights. For a million bucks I’m dancing in the street naked holding Robot’s hand, if he wants.
I’ve also driven all over England and Ireland so I can drive stick on the left hand side, traveled all around Europe by motorcycle, and by train from Paris to Moscow. I also like long walks on the beach. 
This season wasn’t too bad, though the football delays are really annoying, there were at least two that were close to an hour delay.
I wonder what her family will think when Ernie finally comes out of the closet.
Bolded part: yay! Offers for assistance still stand, although I am on crutches, so moving things and bowling are right out. 
And the thing is, it was a huge place and I can see the need for being really thorough before dismissing that as the option (the ‘former residence’ part notwithstanding). There were rows and rows of pieces of furniture that could have had clues tucked into them.
I think that’s an excellent idea.
I do like Ernie quite a bit, and Cindy grew on me. I loved her acknowledgment at the end that he balances her out and helps her find more steady emotional footing. It goes beyond “He’s good enough and we need to prove it” to “He’s good in ways that I need assistance in”. Big difference in a relationship, IMO.
I did think Cindy’s speech about what they were going to do with the money was heartfelt but extremely confusing. [paraphrase]: We’re going to take the money, and make more money, and give money to people who don’t have money…[/paraphrase]. I’m sure once the excitement of winning wore off there would be better ways of explaining their vision.
I one overhead shot I saw what looked like a baseball diamond painted on the asphalt. I’m assuming this commemorates the actual location of the diamond in the old ballpark.
If you know of any good apartments available, I’m all ears. This doesn’t seem to be the best time of year for it. Saw one the other day that would do, but wasn’t all that great; wondering if I should take it for the time being to get one step closer to a normal life, or keep looking.
Crutches, again? What did you do to yourself this time?
I had arthroscopic hip surgery last week. So, this is a planned stint on crutches, but fairly annoying.
I’ll PM you for details on what you’re looking for in an apartment, and where.
After reading last weeks thread, and seeing about 40 commercials for TinTin, Ernie does indeed look just like TinTin.
It makes me wonder if Ernie and Cindy were casted in TAR specifically for this reason, and producers were just hoping that they made to the next to last leg.
Personally I would like the last leg to include two roadblocks, down simultaneously, with the team separated.
One teammate go do the Margaret Mitchell task while the other goes do the ballpark task. And then meet up at the finish line.
and watch one of them stress out, while waiting for the other player to finish.
Stupid damn networks haven’t had the balls to keep to their schedules ever since the Heidi game.
That’s not a bad idea. Kinda breaks with TAR tradition, though; the teams always stick together, or have one member just waiting for the other. I was kind of expecting multiple Roadblocks this episode, one for each player, since all the teams were required to be at 6 and 6 in the previous leg.
I wouldn’t separate the teams during the memory task, though. I think it’s fair that they work together to remember all the places they’ve been to, especially if they can’t use notes. Of course they don’t have to end with a memory task on the last leg.
How 'bout an extra Roadblock? One player goes to Margaret Mitchell’s house to type the clue. The other has to drink three 2-liter bottles of Coca Cola at the company HQ, and the numbers are at the bottom of the bottles. Then they meet at the ballpark to do the map. I don’t like the taxi ride to the finish. Either have the final mat at the last challenge, or have the racers cover the final distance themselves, like the bike ride in the Florida keys a couple seasons ago.
The more I think about simultaneous Roadblocks, the harder it sounds to pull off in practice. The teams were at the flight simulator place, and suddenly they need to go to two different places. Do they call for an additional cab to meet them there, do they drive to Margaret Mitchell’s place and try to hail one? What if one player figures out the 44-715-74 clue but the other doesn’t? Maybe give them cell phones to communicate with and give each player half the clue when they complete their Roadblock. But if they can communicate, you lose that waiting-at-the-mat stress that you were after in the first place.
I think you need to develop the idea a little further.
The team I liked best of the remaining teams won but I felt terrible for Team Bland. What are the odds there actually would be a store called The Dump?
For this one, probably pretty good. I’ll be they knew that would happen, or at least thought it might be a possibility. I also noticed on the Wikipedia page for Gone with the Wind and Margaret Mitchel there is no mention of “The Dump” so it seems a lot harder then it seems.
After such a fabulous visual as the big maps at the ballpark it was a letdown that the actual challenge was so dull. Simply remembering what countries they’d been to. Didn’t seem like something that had much chance for radically changing things, even if the teams has clumped up there.
I was kind of hoping for something at World of Coke involving blind tasting and mass consumption of the various horrible world flavors they have there.
But I was fine with the outcome, had nothing against any of the finalists (and really nothing against any of the teams at all). It is always weird to see the teams at the final mat and realize that there are three or four teams I don’t remember to even the slightest degree.
Margaret Mitchell House & Museum wiki page.
A little obscure in the text:
emphasis mine
And yes, I am positive that TPTB was hoping for someone to go to the furniture store.
I googled it during the show last night and the right answer was within the first page of results. (Do it now and you get references to last night’s episode.) They were talking to someone on the phone, though, maybe the taxi dispatcher, right? That person may have just simplified it to “the dump”, and that would send them to the wrong place.
I propose a new TAR Rule. If you have a choice of cabs, choose one where the driver will let you use his smart phone to make your own queries.
It does raise an interesting question about how the legs of the Race are set up. Do they get volunteers to test them out before the real Racers show up, to shake out any major bugs?
I was disappointed in that ending. Cindy wasn’t the most loathsome contestant ever, but she was in the top 10. It seemed like she was telling Ernie to get it right when they were starting the flight simulator, and she ends up being the one to screw up their first try. Oh well, Ernie is going to deserve whatever comfort the money gives him for enduring a relationship with her. One imagines an endless series of recriminations and faint praise served over a base of unearned self-esteem.