Gorilla???
I just finished watching last week’s episode, and skipped the preview. So all I know is: Thailand, and gorillas.
Last week with the camels was a manual labor task, not an animal-management task. Maybe the gorillas will be an animal-management task? (Which, if it’s a Detour, invokes TAR rule #4.)
Gorillas in Thailand? Did they go to a zoo? I would thought they would encounter orangutans
Don’t forget NCAA B-Ball may push back start times tonight.
Two penalties!? Let the debate rage over what causes a penalty and what doesn’t!
[spoiler]And Mel & Mike are eliminated.
I felt bad for them because they didn’t do anything wrong, and there wasn’t anything they could do to catch up. It was completely because of their cab driver that they were in last place.
And I’m glad the stunt guys got a penalty for hiding the equipment. Not that it made a difference either way (they weren’t last and it didn’t look like anyone needed to use the pumps.)[/spoiler]
The penalty was 60 minutes, and they were down to about 4 when Tammy & Victor arrived. I don’t believe it took T & V 56 minutes to find the envelope in the herb shop. I think the flat tires slowed the other teams down quite a lot.
They did finish an hour ahead of anyone and the camera zoom of doom showed that the tires on other rickshaws were low making it harder for the other teams.
Obviously tampering with another team’s equipment should be a penalty but putting it in the box? I’m not sure about that one.
IMO, they did something wrong, [spoiler]they totally went to wrong place to look for the gorilla. I am not sure if this is a SD TAR rule or what, but if all teams are going one way and you are going a different way and (not 100% sure it is correct, you should check and double check.
That being said, I am glad they are gone, but I am glad I get here Mel mention his groin once again in the elimination confessional.:rolleyes:[/spoiler]
They also ignored the first local that them the gorilla was at the zoo.
It seemed like the teams had a lot of time waiting at the airport in India, and a couple of transfers, too. I was thinking someone should go online and try to get a lead on where there might be a gorilla statue in Phuket.
So I tried it just now. Most of the hits are about this episode of TAR. But one that wasn’t is here.
Is that where Mel & Mike’s cab was originally going? Might not have been as big as mistake as it seemed.
(A little further searching turns up pictures of Rock City, and it’s clear it’s not the gorilla they’re looking for. Still, this is a case where a little knowlege might have been a dangerous thing.)
Wait a minute, was there no Roadblock on this leg?
And according to Wikipedia, there was a Fast Forward that nobody used.
The clue in the gorilla has a FF. You can see it very quickly when the brothers rip open their clue.
One armed Tiger Handlers?..Yikes! Elephants peddling carts! Cool.
Anyone else want to “scritch scritch” the pretty kitty behind the ears?
On occasion there have been legs with roadblocks that were not shown due to time constraints. If nothing really spectacular happened in the roadblock and they had other things they want to focus on (say, a contestant fainting at the pitstop or a team earning multiple time penalties) then they can trim around it.
Alternatively they had a lot of extra tasks this week (photo op with the tiger, participating in the elephant show, finding the clue at the spice shop); they might have been back up plans when whatever they had set for the roadblock fell through.
Incidentally, wasn’t Phuket one of the places where the big tsunami did a lot of destruction a couple of years ago?
I know. I’m just curious what the missing tasks were, and whether they had any potential to change the standings. The Fast Forward might have been Mel & Mike’s best chance to stay in the Race. Maybe they’d have gone for it if they knew that no one else had.
To be added to the list of things I don’t particularly ever want to do in my life:
Have an elephant squat over me.
Allow it to be videotaped.
Oh, yeah…in my circles I’d get teased about being a size queen until the end of my days…
Y’know, I think I’ve said it before, but I’m not such a fan of very linear legs such as this one. The only real choice the teams had to make was which Detour to do; other than that, they just chugged through the leg, being driven by taxis and sequentially completing tasks. This kind of leg design doesn’t give teams a chance to actually make up much time. (Although, to be fair, there was apparently an unused FF this leg, and I assume a Roadblock also. Since both were unaired, they presumably weren’t all that exciting.) I don’t count “randomly picking drawers” as a task requiring “making a choice,” since there’s no method of choosing that has will get you done faster than any other (except “not picking the same drawer more than once,” which, surprisingly, none of the teams seemed to have trouble with).
Anyway, time for the…
Taxi Assessment
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Jennifer and Preston - Working out their relationship in Sequesterville.
Linda and Steve - Probably secretly glad they’re not Racing any more.
Brad and Victoria - Taking the long way back home, with plenty of layovers.
Amanda and Kris - Probably washing more than their fair share of dishes in Sequesterville.
Christie and Jodi - Pointing out emergency exits in Sequesterville.
Mel and Mike (down from “Passing Lane”) - Figures that the week after I pegged this team for the final three they get eliminated. And in such a preventable way, too–if you’re going right and all the other teams are going left, it’s probably time for some self-reflection. Mel & Mike got overconfident, and it did them in. Sucks to get the one cabdriver that is either a) a liar, b) an idiot, or c) had a complete brainfart and thought he knew where something was but didn’t realize he was mistaken until much later. However, people falling into each of these categories, especially the third, are not exactly rare. One large mistake and you’re out; that’s the nature of the game.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
No one, really.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Mark and Michael (holding steady) - A surprisingly good run this leg, arriving at the Mat an hour in front of other teams. (Surprising, that. It didn’t seem like they left the herb shop that much in front of other teams. I suspect there’s an effect of the missing Roadblock in there, which would mean there’s some other, unknown task Mark & Mike powered through.) And they didn’t even get lost once! However, this leg did highlight some other weaknesses–namely, not reading the clue and not understanding the rules. Those weaknesses are tough encumbrances, guys, and don’t bode well for the future.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
LaKisha and Jennifer (holding steady) - They picked the wrong Detour choice, I think. Lots of Detours this season have seemed roughly equal on their face, but I think picking the one where you’re limited by water flow is risky. It’s a little hard to tell (presuming the Roadblock affected arrival times) just what the time discrepancy was, but Cara & Jaime, for example, finished well before LaKisha & Jennifer despite wasting time looking for the wrong Detour.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Cara and Jaime (up from “Rapido!”) - Why oh why is anyone surprised that people in non-English-speaking countries speak no English? I mean, I’ve never been to Thailand, but if I had to think real hard, I’d bet they speak…I dunno…Thai or something. Yet Jaime seems to think this whole non-speaking-English thing is a personal affront to her. I know! I’ll bet if she only speaks r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w, the locals will understand her! Anyway, I’m bumping this team up not because they’ve done anything all that impressive, but because they look better than the two teams below them. There’s not much distance between Cara & Jaime and LaKisha & Jennifer–and the latter could certainly beat the former in a footrace–but Cara & Jaime seem to be Racing a little smarter, and look more likely to make it into the final three. I’ll also note that, even though they left the herb shop after everyone except Mel & Mike, the still pulled onto the Mat in second (shades of the missing Roadblock again?)
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Margie and Luke (holding steady) - This team was a little quiet (heh) this episode, in that they were just running with the pack. Still, a solid finish, and not in any particular danger of elimination (despite Margie’s flair for the dramatic–getting heat exhastion just for the chance to swoon into Phil’s arms? For shame, woman!)
Tammy and Victor (holding steady) - Another first place is two in a row, and the fourth consecutive top-three finish for Tammy & Victor. Of course, actually placing first was more an outcome of Mark & Mike’s screwups than Tammy & Victor’s leet skillz, but even a second place is pretty good. Still seem a lock for final thee, barring overconfidence on Victor’s part.
ALERTSKI - for those of you who don’t watch the “next ep” trailers, the next episode is scheduled to run in two weeks (b-ball is the culprit, I presume).
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
Well said. If not already, this should be added to the “rules” of how to run the race.
By the way zut, I want to take this opportunity to tell you how much I look forward to your weekly review of the race. I don’t post much but sometimes it’s important to express appreciation for a job well done.
It almost seemed like Mel & Mike committed suicide by cabbie. The moment you realize your cabbie has sniffed too much leaded gasoline, you should jump out and find a new cabbie or make your cabbie stop every mile and ask people for directions. Of course, even when they did ask for directions and were told “the zoo” they seemed to think the natives were confusing real gorillas at the zoo for a statue of a gorilla that just couldn’t be at the zoo. :rolleyes: With a little thought, they might have realized gorillas aren’t native to Thailand so where else might a gorilla statue be? the beach? Why? I don’t know if it was overconfidence or just “we don’t care that much, we’re here for the scenery.”