Just a Heads Up to the TAR Fans that the UNC/Kansas game will probably push back the start time of to tonights episode of The Amazing Race.
And placeholder thread for TAR, which is going to Africa tonight.
I don’t think the game will affect the west coast, since the games are posted at east coast times. Oh, never mind. The game is on now, and TAR is scheduled to be on at 8p.m., as it always is. Whew! Loving March Madness, though!
Thanks for the placeholder thread – I’ve been offline most of the day 
I completely forgot about March Madness. My guess is that it’ll start around 8:30 EDT – gotta have the after-game analysis and all that.
Whoops, scratch that – CBS is saying it’ll show 60 Minutes in its entirety when the game is over, so maybe push TAR up to 9PM…
CBS would show 60 Minutes in its entirety if the world were ending at 8PM EDT.
60 Minutes started at 7:46 EDT…so TAR should start at 8:46 EDT.
The little disclaimer at the start should make a few heads explode.
Was that because of the B52 park? That’s all I could think of. Perhaps I wasn’t paying enough attention.
Yes
Well that was certainly an ugly American moment.
*Why *would you choose to make fire with sticks? Have none of these people ever seen Survivor?
No speed bump for Chuck & Wynona? Maybe because of the team dropping out at the start of the leg?
Fishin’ and trappin’ play into Chuck’s strengths, they avoided a for sure speed bump this time, but next week’s preview doesn’t look promising.
Yep. They weren’t in last place because a team quit.
I liked that no one knew for sure about their quitting, tho.
Scorpions and fire. Reminds me of a Black Sabbath concert.
I missed the very beginning. I saw something on Twitter about an apology in the beginning. Anyone have any details?
I knew it was an NEL. Whenever the pit stop is a camp in the middle of nowhere, it is always an NEL. Otherwise I imagine it would be awkward for the eliminated team to have to A. spend time with the remaining team and B. sleep in undesirable conditions even after their chance to win is over.
Also, has there ever been a team so negative as Mullet and Grumpy? I don’t recall a team ever just assuming they were going to lose because they were on a third flight (with two other teams on it yet).
For the love of god, please, Joey, STFU. You’re really a 13-year old girl in disguise, aren’t you?
I’d be curious to know how the bushmen’s saliva neutralized the scorpions’ toxin. Never heard of it before.
I knew most of the teams would pick the fire task :rolleyes:
Part of it was no doubt because of the way the other task was described: catching a bird. If you really had to do that, no doubt you’d have to wait around for hours or even days. Since all you had to do was build a snare…
It didn’t. The toxin is in their stingers, which the bushmen held between their fingers. The mouth trick was to put them to sleep so they could lay them in the hands of the racers.
Now, my followup question: How does the bushmen’s saliva put them to sleep?
This was really a poor episode for learning anything new about each team’s competence. The airport bunching at the start put everyone on the same level, and the only real diferentiation was from the quick sprint to sign up for the charter flight, or (more tellingly) decision-making at the Detour.
Taxi Assessment:
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Matthew & Daniel and Idries & Jamil and John & Jessica and David & Connor - (already eliminated)
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Chuck & Wynona (holding steady) - Chuck & Wynona notch up their best-ever finish, and Wynona finally actually volunteers for a Roadblock, all in one episode. To be fair, their spectacularly good finish (for them) was a result of picking the “right” Detour option rather than any generalt competence, but to be scrupulously fair, the snare-making Detour was exactly in Chuck’s wheelhouse. I’m always tickled when a team brings real-life experience to the Race, and I’m particularly tickled that Chuck’s like, “yep, no problem, got this, spent five years trapping animals for a living,” and Bam! does it no problem. If they spend more time out in the bush next week, Chuck & Wynona might even last for one more episode, but they’re still not likely to make it farther than that.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Max & Katie (holding steady) - I’ve been down on Max & Katie for a while, but I was all set to move them up after a pair of top-three finishes in a row in the last two episodes. Now, though, they go and finish in last place. To be sure, it was something of a fluke - a bunch of teams picked the wrong Detour option, and Max & Katie just happened to be the teams that delayed switching for the longest time. On the other hand, I think that delay is more a sign of overconfidence on the part of Max & Katie than a pure fluke, so I claim my initial skepticism of this team is justified. They’ll have to do a Speed Bump task next week, so we’ll see how they fare when they’re truly behind.
“Rapido! Por Favor?” - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Caroline & Jen (holding steady) - I wonder if Caroline & Jen were unduly influenced during the Detour by knowing that Anthony & Bates were able to light their fire without too much trouble. In any case, even though they (probably) spent the most time at the fire-making task, they weren’t the last ones to switch tasks, so they weren’t the last ones to the Mat.
Mona & Beth (holding steady) - I was afraid Mona & Beth were going to do something dumb at the end of this episode. They didn’t; that’s great, but Mona & Beth still barely kept out of last place. I’m not sure if I should be relieved that their internal error analysis threw up a red flag and prevented them from driving to the Pit Stop, or if I should be anxious that they forgot to RTFC in the first place. In any case, to be fair, they did rock the Roadblock, but some fumbling at the Detour was almost their downfall.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Joey & Meghan (holding steady) - Once more, Joey & Meghan surprise me with a non-You-Tube-hosting reference to some experience that actually helps with a task. In this case, the reference is to a generic “building things,” but it’s apparently legit, as Joey & Meghan easily build their snare and beat the rest of the task-switchers. In other news, I hope the self-consciously faux-witty verbal asides Joey utters are only occasional, and picked up by the editors as his trademark, rather than a constant insufferable stream. If it were the latter, then I sympathise with Max & Katie’s dislike of this team, and sympathising with Max & Katie makes me feel a little queasy.
Pam & Winnie (holding steady) - Other than Chuck & Wynona, Pam & Winnie were the only team to choose the correct Detour option right off the bat (due to their relevant real-world experience of “watching TV.” Heh). That allows them to vault from the rear of the pack to a comfortable second-place, and look pretty smart to boot.
Anthony & Bates (holding steady) - Anthony & Bates are once again back in first place. There wasn’t a lot of space between first and last on this leg, but Anthony & Bates pretty much did everything right. Continuing to do pretty much everything right is a recipe for success (duh), so let’s see if they can keep it up.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
No one yet.
Does anyone else feel like the tasks and detours this season have been lame?
Too many generic teams. This season isn’t really doing it for me.
Now that I think of, you’re right – they did hold the scorpions by the stingers.
As for the saliva…I wish I knew! That IMO was the most interesting thing about this episode.