Steve & Dale are air traffic controllers. My take was that “Luftwaffe” is a controller in-joke for Lufthansa. Unfortunately I don’t see much of a future in the game for them, especially if the knee continues to be an issue.
The potty mouth couple are great. They should be fun to watch.
I watched this episode, and found it interesting when I heard the thing about it being a 6,000 ft mountian. I’m not that much on Italian geography, but are those resorts only 6 thousand feet up? If so, those people are in bad shape. Hell I have 80 pounds of extra fat, smoke three packs a day, and still can still slog 4 miles through snow at 11,000 feet, and did so last weekend.
I also noticed some coverage that may have been accidental, but I dont know. The ‘token’ groups, the black chicks and the gay guys seemed to be painted in a poor light, as obnoxious cocky blowhards. The groups that impressed me were the vigins, and the guys group that got no coverage, and ended up in 10th place. They both seemed well rounded, and not focused on the drama, but doing what needed to be done.
I couldn’t believe it when the NFL Wives team took the Fast Forward. I was yelling at the screen “don’t take it now you idiots! There is a busload a full two hours behind you!” Sheesh.
And I may be showing my age, but the woman who had to have every other word bleeped out was irritating to me. Give it a rest.
“C’mon Flo.” Heh, heh. That was great.
I just hope they drop the subtitles soon. I found it a bit offensive that everytime certain couples appear on screen, the producers decided that the most important thing for us to remember was their sexual proclivities.
I’ve never had a problem with the fact that some of the players in prior seasons are openly gay, and not particularly bothered when the narrated voice-overs had to tell us that every episode. Now this season we get the “married” subtitle under the two gay guys everytime they’re on the screen, like we’re all supposed to think, “well, maybe I’ve lowered myself to watch a reality TV series, but at least I’m watching a politically correct one!”.
And the “virgins” subtitle? Come on. It may have been an interesting point to raise in the initial character introductions, but are they really so one-dimensional that there’s nothing else to say about them so we have to proclaim their sexual status every time they appear on the screen? (Then again, maybe they are that one-dimensional…)
In prior seasons, they’ve had some married and divorced couples for whom there was eventually some hint of marital infidelity. Can we look forward to future Amazing Race seasons with subtitles like “cheating on each other”, “sleeps around”, etc.? Maybe we’ll get treated to “likes to be on top”, “bondage partners”, etc.?
I heard it, too. I thought I was hearing things, but I laughed so hard at that! I’m glad someone else heard it, too.
A couple of my co-workers heard Josh’s dad say, “The girl with the fake tits” when they were looking for the bus tickets. Anyone else hear it?
Sorry, that would be “girls with the fake tits”.
Yes, the Mr. heard that line, too. They pointed the girls to later bus tickets because they didn’t to be on the same bus! HA!
The Flo line was pretty funny, too.
I don’t have any favorites, yet. It’s funny, when it’s closer to the end, I won’t even remember who the first few losing teams were.
The Mr didn’t like the subtitles, either, ChordedZither, but they helped me keep track of everyone. It takes me an episode or three to remember who’s who. I thought the personal bits of info were to help the audience relate more with the teams, he just though they were silly!
I’m pretty sure that was Josh himself, when he directed the NFL Wives to the 4:00 tickets. He said that he would rather them have the tickets than the (paraphrasing) “girls with the fake tits”.
I think.
I was thinking the same thing. Very distracting and not needed at all.
I’m a big Survivor fan and have never watched AR until last night. I really liked it, although keeping track of everyone was a bit difficult. I think once the field is narrowed down a bit and I can remember who everyone is, I’ll LOVE this show and be mad at myself for missing the first 3.
Even though I do think clowns are scary, I love that team! They are my favorite so far.
Thank goodness there is a show worth watching on TV now. This week has been pretty boring as far as TV goes.
I think the couples are asked by the producers to determine their own subtitle. This is what makes the “virgins” thing so disturbing to me. It’s their little self-righteous badge of honour. Freaks.
I’d just like to add myself to the list of people who said that AR is their favorite reality show.
Algernon, I agree that the NFL wives made a big mistake taking the FF. And they didn’t even come in 1st! They’re in fourth place. I think they maybe gained 2 or 3 spots with the FF. When there’s still 12 teams competing, that’s not a big enough incentive.
I also predicted the married couple would be the 1st ones eliminated. The Air Traffic guys also seem to be in rough shape. I had to laugh at the model team complaining they were behind the “slow” team at the Rescue detour. This is the same team that’s been at the back of the pack the whole race!
I like the clown team and the father/son team (I can’t remember any names yet).
For new viewers, the frist 2-3 episodes are the toughest to keep track of. Lots of teams and lots of personalities that all must get some air time. Once there are 9 or so teams it becomes easy to follow who’s who and the personalities involved.
Vague spoilers if you have yet to watch the taped episode from last night:
Teams that won’t be winning the game:
1 - The air traffic controllers. Nice guys, good spirits. But, the game involves such a high level of walking, running, and physical activity that you either have to be in good shape, or if in poor shape, have good luck. They are poor shape and bad luck with a trick knee.
2 - The model chicks. My first thoughts were that I would dislike them due to a resemblence to the idiot lawyers from AR3. I was correct. If you are taking free coffee instead of getting a cab, wanting to stop on a mountain in a race, and non-stop complaining all while you know you are one of the last 2 teams, you clearly do not have what it takes to win.
3 - Russell/Cindy - Freakishly reminiscent of Paul/Amy from AR3. Immediate bickering about simple things does not bode well.
Dagnabbit
4 - The NFL wives. They seem like an 8th place kind of team. Not necessarily bad racers, but just not having what it takes to do well. Using a fast forward when you know you have a 2 hour time advantage reeks of insanity. The only thing that would have made it OK is if one of the last 4 teams had decided to go for it, spent time hiking to it only to find it gone thus realizing they were now impossibly behind. Extra bonus points if it had been the models.
I need the subtitles to keep the teams straight, early on. But “virgins”?? Even if self-identified, jeez…
Dang, do all South Dakotan women swear like sailors?
I was a little disappointed at the team makeup. Of all types of human relationships – siblings; same-sex friends; opp-sex friends; straight married couples; gay couples; parent-child; dating/engaged – we get overloaded on one or two categories. One married couple, and they’re gone already. No siblings.
I thought clown noses at the finish line was cool. And I wish I could balance a boarding pass on my nose.
Ditto. I thought that was cool too. I forgot to mention it when I posted earlier.
And, a show of hands: how many think we actually have two gay couples, but one set of hunky guy friends isn’t out of the closet yet? 
But the gay guys are married. That was their whole subtitle!
I’ll go along with that, jsc.
The “dating” and “virgins” part is fine, but 12 years ???. Either shit or get off the pot, kids. It would explain their high tension levels on only the first leg, though.
Did Russell actually call Cindy “Flo”? Good on yer, mate.
I was hoping the chicks with the fake boobs and the fake names would be eliminated, but I didn’t expect it – there was no way the last-place finishers would’ve won any kind of speed race.
And was that the most useless Fast Forward ever? I didn’t see Season 1, so maybe someone there screwed up even further, but geez.
I was prepared to really dislike the father/son team after they bought those tickets for the air traffic controllers – that seemed pretty low, frankly – but they basically made up for it with the bus ticket move.
As usual, half the teams are underdeveloped throughout the first episode, even with a 90 minute show (which I appreciated). But we’ll get to know them all soon enough.