[QUOTE=Scuba_Ben]
Hey, here’s an idea - Nate should dump Jen and hook up with Christina!
[/QUOTE]
Only for the Race. I wouldn’t want to pair her up with him romantically…
And geez…Jen has all the strength under pressure of used Kleenex.
(HAH! The spellchecker here enforces trademarks! I spelled Kleenex with a lowercase k and it marked it wrong…)
Oh, and can I just mention that I really don’t think it was fair for Jen’s gas recipient to remind her of the receipts. We take Jeff Probst to task when he’s doing play-by-play during challenges on Survivor, and I think the same rule should be in force for non-contestant participants in TAR tasks. No helping! No giving away strategy! Ferns, yes…they can help. But if you’re a task prop, you need to shut. up.
Also, I just realized in this episode that Ron & Christina have really done their homework. I can’t think of a single leg yet where they haven’t known the native word for “Thank you” (in this case, Hindi “shukriyya”).
I’m so glad that those two circus clowns will be off my television. Yikes. How freaky was Vyxxyn with her one eyebrow wiped clean off?
They were clearly gone as soon as they chose to have Kynt do the task. It called for a strong back and navigation skills. The guy calls himself Kynt! What did they think would happen?
[QUOTE=Scuba_Ben]
The good news is, they’ve demonstrated that the Speed Bump is recoverable. I think it’s more balanced than the “first or worst” 30 minute penalty was.
[/QUOTE]
The speed bump was good - I was afraid that with the bunching and the travelling to the extra task, it wouldn’t be possible to recover.
They could have. And then two small, understandable but critical mistakes. (I can clearly see making the receipt mistake).
But it does clear up that you don’t rip up your picture when you pass the U-turn and you don’t know who is behind you.
Ronald reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite when he took a huge swig from the bottle.
[QUOTE=amarinth]
The speed bump was good - I was afraid that with the bunching and the travelling to the extra task, it wouldn’t be possible to recover.
They could have. And then two small, understandable but critical mistakes. (I can clearly see making the receipt mistake).
But it does clear up that you don’t rip up your picture when you pass the U-turn and you don’t know who is behind you.
[/QUOTE]
I can forgive the receipt mix up. But he decides to U-turn Nick and Don, because they are slow? Did he really think that the first place team on the prior leg, that landed in Mumbai 20 minutes before them, and was no where in sight when they showed up for the detour after doing the speed bump, was somewhere behind them? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
If they had not done the speedbump, it would have been a more reasonable assumption. but they knew that Nate and Jen were at least close, it should have been an easy pick.
Shit. Shit!
So long, Kynt and Vixsyn. TAR will never see the likes of you again.
Hey! We get to watch teams read a newspaper! (I actually liked this task. It rewards observation and methodicalness, and discourages spazzticity, Jennifer.)
Taxi Assessment
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Ari & Staella and Kate & Pat and Marianna & Julia and Lorena & Jason and Shana & Jennifer and Azaria & Hendekea - Enjoying their non-competitive vacation.
Kynt & Vyxsin (down from “Stopping”) - This team was torpedoed not by the powerful and mysterious Speedbump, but by two critical errors. First of all, they Yielded the wrong team. What on Earth were they thinking? They should have known Jennifer & Nathan were behind them (because they themselves weren’t Yielded); they didn’t know where Nicolas & Donald were. Good decision to use the Yield, bad decision on which team to choose. Second, Kynt leaving the receipts with the customers during the Roadblock sealed their loss. Had they avoided either one of those mistakes, they would likely have slid in ahead of Jennifer & Nathan. They pulled a few clever stunts this episode: the airport mummery, Kynt blocking Jen at the elevator, etc., but two mistakes during an episode when they couldn’t really afford to make any were just too much. I hate to say it, but they deserved the elimination.
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.
Nicolas & Donald (holding steady) - Good airport strategy… I think. I like sleeping as much as the next guy, and snagging their flight and retiring for six hours certainly worked this episode. However, the best racing teams keep working at it to find better flights, and resting instead of working doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. It’s kind of fascinating that, every other episode or so, Gramps has some kind of experience revelent to the task at hand. This team is still in the race, and might even get to the final three, but I just don’t see them winning it all. In the end, too unblanced and too slow.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Ronald & Christina (holding steady) - Another team I just don’t see winning it all. A little too slow, not enough focus on winning. And Ron has a habit of doing something stupid (pasting up the poster way too high) and then blaming Christina for the cascading results.
Jennifer & Nathan (holding steady) - Yes, yes. The intra-team hate is getting old and lame. If you’ll notice, this team is spending time sniping at each other that they could be using to actually complete the task. However, their sniping is worse the farther behind they are: if they can jump out in front at the end of the race, they could very well stay there. If they fall way behind, they’re toast. Jenn’s inability to think clearly will hurt this team, too.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Rachel & TK (holding steady) - This team has to be the odds-on favorite to win it all, as long as they can keep from wandering off-course. Thier competition is one team with a slow old guy, one team that yells at each other all the time, and a third team that’s sort of a combination: an old guy that yells all the time. Rachel & TK, on the other hand, have remained mellow hippie caricatures throughout the race. A solid leg this episode, despite snagging the worst flight to Mumbai.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
No one this week.
Next week: The very last elimination!
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
Now that we’re down to four teams, if there’s going to be any more NELs, it has to be next week. Someone please remind me - did Phil say at the starting line that there would be 8 elimination legs and 11 total?
I agree with zut’s assessment of Nate & Jen – when they’re doing well in the race, they’re good with each other, but the moment they slip they’re at each other’s throats. I would love to see them be eliminated, just to see if they go all Ironleg on us. (Named after the famous break-up on the pit stop mat, by a well-deserved metal leg applied to the annoying teammate.)
After the whole newspaper fiasco with Jen and Nate, she says something like “we are really not good at this” and I thought for sure Nate was going to say “what, reading?” (instead of “looking for ads in the newspaper”).
[QUOTE=Scuba_Ben]
Now that we’re down to four teams, if there’s going to be any more NELs, it has to be next week. Someone please remind me - did Phil say at the starting line that there would be 8 elimination legs and 11 total?
[/quote]
I had thought so. We could be in for a double-leg, an NEL and a two-hour finale with Philimination in the middle. That’d be sweet except I don’t know if I could stand watching any of these teams for two hours at a time.
[QUOTE=Otto]
I had thought so. We could be in for a double-leg, an NEL and a two-hour finale with Philimination in the middle. That’d be sweet except I don’t know if I could stand watching any of these teams for two hours at a time.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to a TBC leg. You KNOW that if Jen doesn’t have a 12-hour Pit Stop to rest, she’s going to be in face-melting hair-flaming bitch-queen mode. That’s entertainment!
I would never have started watching this series if not for The Dope. Thanks for getting me involved and killing another hour out of my week. Nah, who do I think I’m kidding? If it wasn’t TAR I’d just be here reading.
I enjoyed the way V&K raced, not being up on all the subtle strategies, but Kynt’s voice annoyed the living heck out of me. They were sure funt to watch, and I marveled at the number of outfits they were able to produce from thier backbacks. So, for all of those that have helped my with other logistics questions, can the add clothes along the way?
Thanks
[QUOTE=brownie55]
So, for all of those that have helped my with other logistics questions, can the add clothes along the way?
Thanks
[/QUOTE]
Yep. Sometimes all the teams are given appropriate wear – like the time they went to Alaska – but they allowed to spend the money they are given each leg however they please. I think the Guidos, for one, did a bit of shopping. And Uchenna/Joyce bought something at the market in Africa.
Of course, spend too much on clothes, and you may not be able to pay for that taxi at a critical point.
[QUOTE=StarvingButStrong]
Of course, spend too much on clothes, and you may not be able to pay for that taxi at a critical point.
[/QUOTE]
As Uchenna and Joyce found out right outside the stadium that had the finish line…
[QUOTE=zut]
Kynt & Vyxsin (down from “Stopping”) - This team was torpedoed not by the powerful and mysterious Speedbump, but by two critical errors. First of all, they Yielded the wrong team. What on Earth were they thinking? They should have known Jennifer & Nathan were behind them (because they themselves weren’t Yielded); they didn’t know where Nicolas & Donald were. Good decision to use the Yield, bad decision on which team to choose. Second, Kynt leaving the receipts with the customers during the Roadblock sealed their loss. Had they avoided either one of those mistakes, they would likely have slid in ahead of Jennifer & Nathan. They pulled a few clever stunts this episode: the airport mummery, Kynt blocking Jen at the elevator, etc., but two mistakes during an episode when they couldn’t really afford to make any were just too much. I hate to say it, but they deserved the elimination.
[/QUOTE]
I thought all in all it was a near perfect example of how a person’s strength can also be their weakness. Yeah, the clever stunts were Kynt’s idea, and the stunts helped them at the airport and the with the elevator, but Kynt seemed far more caught up with the clever stunts than actually paying attention to the race and tasks required. At his first stop on the roadblock, he seemed far more interested in blocking Jen from getting the elevator than, you know, actually reading the clue and figuring out what the task was. And the plan to U Turn Nick and Don seemed to be solely his. They were the two critical mistakes that cost them the game. Pretty much as soon as he started the roadblock I figured they’d be gone. He was reminding me a bit of the guy who won Survivor this season, who seemed to scheme just for the sake of it. Anyway, it’s too bad, because on the whole, I liked them, or at least I liked Vyxsin, and Kynt was interesting. More importantly I wanted Nate and Jen gone. Gah.
[QUOTE=PastAllReason]
At his first stop on the roadblock, he seemed far more interested in blocking Jen from getting the elevator than, you know, actually reading the clue and figuring out what the task was. And the plan to U Turn Nick and Don seemed to be solely his. They were the two critical mistakes that cost them the game.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with the latter (which will go down as one of the dumbest decisions in TAR history, possibly even dumber than Guido’s tea break because at least Guido wasn’t Philiminated) but I can’t agree to the former. He obviously misinterpreted the clue but I don’t agree that he was too busy scheming how to mess up the elevator to read it right. I think it’s more likely he read whatever it said (“take the receipt from the door” or whatever) and just got his paperwork mixed up. Delivery people do that every day without being in the middle of a racearoundtheworld.
And I wholeheartedly endorse any curses, thunderbolts or mild discomfort called down upon that woman who called Jen back to get her receipt.
Scheming? He said he had more stuff to put in the elevator. Heck, if Jen had jumped in when Kynt went outside to get more propane tanks, that would have been scheming. She could even have gone up, then sent the elevator back down to the second floor and claimed she was helping Kynt make his delivery.
[QUOTE=Barbarian]
Scheming? He said he had more stuff to put in the elevator. Heck, if Jen had jumped in when Kynt went outside to get more propane tanks, that would have been scheming. She could even have gone up, then sent the elevator back down to the second floor and claimed she was helping Kynt make his delivery.
[/QUOTE]
I was thinking more of a few minutes later, where Kynt was up on the second floor and “forgot” to close the elevator door so Jenn could call it from the first floor. That could have initially just been an oversight on his part, but he was clearly in no hurry to rectify the situation. (Nor should he have been.)
[QUOTE=Barbarian]
Scheming? He said he had more stuff to put in the elevator. Heck, if Jen had jumped in when Kynt went outside to get more propane tanks, that would have been scheming. She could even have gone up, then sent the elevator back down to the second floor and claimed she was helping Kynt make his delivery.
[/QUOTE]
I did wonder what would have happened had Jen, while Kynt was outside, removed his tanks from the elevator and gone up. Or what if she had gone up with her tank, taking his with her? The former seems entirely reasonable but the latter seems closer to Racer interference of some sort. Theoretically Kynt could have left a tank in the elevator and left for his other delivery; would she have been foreclosed from using the elevator at all? There has to be some provision that allows Racers to move other Racers’ equipment if it’s interfering with their own completion of a task. Otherwise Racers could, I duno, pile up their backpacks in front of a clue box or the model teams use to build something and there’d be nothing the other teams could do about it.