I thought it was pretty funny when Zev told Kynt not to forget his make-up bag at the parking garage.
That mud!!! That looked horrible!
Also, Jaime and Cara have an even more entitled, arrogant attitude than before, that seems to go perfectly with their new plastic and silicone features.
I like Mallory’s enthusiasm, but she is clearly mentally unstable…
I wish they did a better job of telling us what exactly is on the cards. Because normally, that many veteran TAR racers would never choose a needle in a haystack option. There had to be more information that we didn’t see/hear.
I didn’t quite get what happened with the fannypack at the Prayer Roadblock. Did the GTs pick it up by accident, and then realize it wasn’t theirs, so they left it in the changing room?
I guess they should have taken it back where they found it, but at the same time, it sucks that they got a 30-minute delay.
I was surprised at how many chose the Find-A-Frog Roadblock over the Praying-In-A-Waterfall. You never pick the needle in a haystack option!
And never take a flight with any kind of layover. When the arrival time is negligible, always take the direct flight!
I was also shocked. The only explanation I could come up with is it was easier to find than the other one. Which would also explain how someone doing the frog task finished first so far ahead of the next team.
I’m really hoping that the Globetrotters took the bag accidentally. Even then, though, a 30-minute penalty for even accidentally delaying another team is standard. There was one season when someone took the wrong vehicle after a task (they had driven themselves to the task) and caused the other team a delay because of it.
I was also pretty shocked about almost everyone taking the needle in a haystack option, but other than the last two teams, it didn’t seem to affect finish order at all.
I felt so sorry for poor Mel and Mike shivering in the ambulance as the last team found their frog.
Yeah, that wasn’t just “I’m cold”. That was incipient hypothermia. You don’t spend time with medics if you’re just cold.
Zev: I’m not wearing any underwear.
Justin: That’s hot.
Justin: (putting arm around Zev) We’re a team!
Zev: Don’t touch me.
Could this team be any more awesome?
How hard was the Roadblock task that Zev & Justin, who arrived an hour behind the first plane, managed to catch up with the front half of the pack, and were then the 2nd team to leave!?
I really could have used some muddy Mallory close ups. Vixen too.
Three very strong legs from Zev & Justin to start the Race, fourth at the Pit Stop that wasn’t, first and first. Assuming they’ve learned their lesson about leaving passports lying around, this team could go far.
A strong showing from Kisha & Jen, too.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys have been slipping. Weren’t they on the first plane to arrive in Tokyo, but arrived at the Roadblock after Zev & Justin? They may have gotten seriously lost while driving in Tokyo.
Too bad it’s about the stupidest way the producers could “resolve” that problem. Punishing the offending team not only barely helps the affected team, but every other remaining team as well. What this means is that the Globetrotters suffered a mild penalty for potentially crippling another team. What if the Globetrotters had thrown their bag into a tree or a lake? They’d be screwed, but there seems to be no protocol for that.
What they should have done is given the affected team a time credit for the time they spent looking for the bag, while penalizing the Globetrotters either with a set amount (as done), or perhaps even by the same amount the team was affected. Otherwise team’s might as well hide other people’s belongings whenever they get the chance.
We’re back to the “go here, do this” kind of clues. Too bad.
Taxi Assessment:
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Amanda & Kris - Already eliminated.
Mel & Mike (down from “Flat Tire”) Why oh why did so many teams choose the needle-in-a-haystack Detour option? Despite Mike’s fears, I doubt Mel was going to literally keel over–maybe this goes against the Official Storyline, but I had the impression that what Mike was really saying was, “this sucks, I hate it and want to quit, but I don’t want to explicitly say so, so I’ll cajole Dad into quitting.” However, it’s immaterial what I think, because Mel & Mike couldn’t find the needle in the haystack, and eventually the dark and cold and time led to a pretty uncomfortable level of exposure, and apparently real medical issues. And so we see: this is why you don’t choose the needle-is-a-haystack tasks. Maybe you get done quicker, but maybe you don’t, and wind up shivering in the back of an ambulance.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Ron & Christina (holding steady) Confusingly, the official CBS recap implies that Ron & Christina were given a time credit (in addition to the Globetrotter’s time penalty) for the fanny pack incident. (The recap says, “Ron & Christina jumped from fifth to third and sisters Kisha & Jen came in fourth after finding a frog,” implying that Ron & Christina leapfrogged (ha!) Kisha & Jen.) That wasn’t noted in the on-air episode, I don’t think. In any case, with or without credit, Ron & Christina slipped into third place this week. That’s by far their best showing this season. I might be tempted to move them up, but their overall average isn’t all that impressive, and I still think they’re the weakest team remaining. Let’s see what they do next week.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Kent & Vyxsin (holding steady) Kent & Vyxsin pull into seventh place. On the one hand, that’s not bad, considering they had a delayed flight: they beat all the other teams on their flight, save Zev & Justin. On the other hand, Kent & Vyxsin have the worst average end-of-leg placement of any of the remaining teams. Like Ron & Christina, let’s see what they do next week.
Jaime & Cara (holding steady) Jaime & Cara squeak into ninth place by passing a shivering Mel & Mike. I’d really like to know how much time their fender-bender cost them, since they were already in last place. It looks like they would have wound up in ninth place, regardless of their little incident.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Jet & Cord (down from “Passing”) The cowboys really need to put their navigational hat on. The Roadblock was tailor-made for them, but they spent so much time wandering around that Zev & Justin, originally an hour behind, beat them to the site. I used to think Jet & Cord were the obvious front-runners on this race, but they’re looking very, very beatable.
Margie & Luke (down from “Passing”) We didn’t see a lot from Margie & Luke this episode. They did OK, I suppose, apart from having bad airplane luck, but “OK” isn’t quite enough.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Kisha & Jen (up from “Rapido!”) Kisha & Jen are actually looking pretty good, as the only team other than Zev & Justin to place in the top four on all three legs. They were helped by being one of the teams to have good luck with their flights (or, more precisely, “not have bad luck,” but it’s kind of the same in the end). Maybe that good luck makes this team look better than it really is, but for now I’m moving them up a notch.
Gary & Mallory (up from “Rapido!”) A decent leg and a second-place finish moves Gary & Mallory up a notch in this week’s rankings. I think this team has quite a lot of potential to move in either direction–Mallory’s over-exuberance could be a real asset as long as she’s aimed in the right direction, but she doesn’t always seem to be. Still, Gary & Mallory have an unused Express Pass, and that could really come in handy.
Flight Time & Big Easy (holding steady) Accidentally taking Ron & Christina’s fanny pack is an understandable mistake, but not returning it to the spot they took it from was a dick move. I mean, come on–adults should know that if you accidentally break something, you do your best to fix it, or at least clean up the mess. Shame on Flight Time & Big Easy, and if the rules reinforce that behavior (like assessing a time penalty for moving another team’s stuff, but not reducing the penalty for trying to fix the mistake), then shame on TAR.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Zev & Justin ("up from “Rapido!”) OK, OK, I’m a believer. I initially pooh-poohed this team’s chances against what should be pretty good competition. But, had it not been for two flight delays well outside of their control, Zev & Justin would have led the competition for the entire Race–three complete legs back-to-back-to-back. As it was, despite landing an hour behind the lead teams this episode, Zev & Justin made up the time and cruised into another first-place finish.
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Rating[/sub]
The first plane landed at 6am and all but one team finished the leg after dark.
They spent a lot of unshown time figuring out where to go and navigating the streets of Tokyo.
That’s almost exactly what I said to my husband last night as we were watching. I understand that Mel is old and frail and prone to groin injuries, but Mike’s hand-wringing and *“Ooooooh my God! He’s going to diiiiiiiiie!” *last week and this week was too much for me.
I, too, was disappointed in the Globetrotters. I would have liked to have seen more clear description of what actually happened. I was thinking, though, that they’re one of the few teams that I would not have minded seeing do the frog challenge, yet they chose the purification one. Seeing Margie in paper underwear? Not so hot. Seeing Zev’s hairy back? Also not so hot. (I’ll leave the Mallory and Vyxsin ogling to those who swing that way, although I did mention to my husband as we were watching that Mallory is appealing curvy, which is refreshing in a beauty queen.)
Mallory said something when she put on the diaper bikini like “This is just like Miss America, only add 50 pounds.” So I presume she was practically anorexic then, or exaggerating now.
Zev and Justin got to the mat first on the leg where they were eliminated on their initial race, and seemed like a very smart, cohesive team. I’ve had them as my dark horse to win the whole thing all season, because the other two alpha male teams have significant flaws between the ears.
I heard “15 pounds”.
Anyway, here’s what she looked like in the Miss America version of mudpit wear: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ZhQX1isUtp1/2010+Miss+America+Pageant/r4tu_Dsg20K/Mallory+Ervin
She’s definitely not 50 pounds up from that (especially since that was only a year ago).
I felt bad for Lucky Frog cluegiver…bellybounced and mauled TWICE by strangers covered in mud.