Wow, I must be the only one in the world who still likes Charla and Mirna. I might have to stop reading these threads, the anti-Mirna rants are just too much for me.
And Mirna as the equivalent to Flo? How much do you have to hate Mirna to make a comparison like that. Flo??? Bleah.
I think they’re doing a fine job. As to the Taxi thing, Chip made a similar move earlier on in the game and now they’re everyone’s favorites! (I like them, too.)
But once Chip & Kim and Charla & Mirna are out, I might be, too. The rest of the teams don’t do much for me at all.
You’re so right about that chart. And it also makes sense that the Fast Forward and Yield will really come into play during those non-elimination rounds. This is getting more and more exciting.
The Twins hadn’t just riden in the taxi, still had their baggage in it, and had yet to pay the taxi driver while they checked to make sure they were at the right place. And Mirna and Charla were not going to be eliminated by giving up the taxi (neither were the earlier teams but they thought whoever lost the taxi would be effectively eliminated) and were in a location where taxis were going to be common as anything. It’s a completely different situation than two teams grabbing a taxi at the same time and then upon realizing that they couldn’t work it out just calling for another one.
I said similar, not same. I just think people are letting their dislike for Mirna (but not Charla?) color the impression of other events. It’s a game and they were looking for an advantage. Note that they didn’t really press their case and abandoned the cab.
Anyways, I likes 'em. and I’m going to keep liking them so that when they win I won’t feel a deep burning resentment like I did with Zack and Flo. So there.
I could think it was just some random and irrational dislike on my part about the hatred of Mirna (much more than Charla. If she were with someone else I would probably root for her). But, name one team that Mirna has had extended contact with that hasn’t ended up viewing Mirna as crazy, irritating, wrong, insane, or annoying. It can’t be done. When I see that most AR fans dislike her, all racers dislike her, and I dislike her I have to believe that I am on the correct bandwagon.
The twins may be annoying, but they are entertaining. My favorite line this week: “(Sneezes) I think I’m allergic to … poop!” Then when they found the “dried poop” in the sand … man, that was priceless! Apparently I find poop really funny.
Actually, I like Charla, and feel sorry that she’s saddled with her bitca of a cousin. Mirna has provided ample reasons to dislike her. She’s whiny, she’s apparently afraid of almost everything, she’s paranoid, she thinks that everyone should accomodate her but refuses to accomodate anyone else, and her attempts to communicate with the people she encounters whose language she does not speak are classic Ugly American. You don’t understand me? LET ME SAY IT LOUDER. And don’t get me started on her Spanish, a language she purportedly speaks, but really speaks with slightly less proficiency than Basil Fawlty.
As Just Some Guy pointed out, apples and oranges. Mirna called Colin a “bully” and a “maniac” because he asked her to get out of a cab that: a) contained all of his stuff; and b) that he hadn’t yet paid for. Even AFTER he showed her that all his stuff was in the trunk.
So perhaps someone can explain to me how all these teams that supposedly slight Mirna are “jealous.” Was I hearing that correctly? I don’t think I’d want to walk around in her head for any length of time. Charla won me over a little bit scampering down the pyramid shaft. I’ve been in those shafts, and if you’re even the least bit claustrophobic, boy, are you gonna feel it. It’s not only the close space, but also the knowledge (which some team members described) of having tons of sand and stone over your head. Great footage of Egypt overall; this was probably my favorite leg of the race so far in terms of the general coolness of activites and scenery.
So my predictions were off. They usually are. I sort of wanted to see some Probst-like disdain from Phil following the news that Marshall and Lance were giving up, but Phil’s just not that kind of guy, is he? I think it’s a good thing they’re gone; they were never going to make it that far anyway, what with the knee problems.
Mirna and Charla are of Turkish and Armenian descent, and Turkish and Armenian are among the languages they are purported to speak. My understanding is that both are close cousins to Arabic, and Mirna wasn’t just saying words, she was saying entire phrases. Seemingly complex phrases, in fact, on the water taxi. So my guess is that Arabic may be the one thing that Mirna does with a pretty decent level of competence.
I don’t hate Mirna and Charla, although they ar enot my favorites by any stretch either. Here is what you have to do to get me to really hate you as a team:
Disrespect countries and cultures you are in. I have seen none of this from C&M.
Disrespect your partner. Although Mirna does a lot of “Hurry up, Charla!” nonsense.
Most importantly, you race! You do not quit! I know Mirna says a lot of the time, “I can’t do this” But she says while she is completeing the task. She never actually sits down and says “That’s it.” Also, she is working the airports, trying to get to cabs, thinking of ways to be faster. This is the main part where Flo really falls way way behind Mirna in my book.
I do think Mirna has some sort of persecution complex (as opposed to Colins’s "Napolean Complex), but honestly, I don’t care how teams get along with one another in the context of the race. The fact that the other teams hate her may affect her team down the line, but that’s the race.
BTW, they were born in Syria, and as far as I can tell, Syrian is pretty much an Arabic dialect.
My favorites are Chip and Kim, and I was damn pleased to see Kim do a Roadblock.
Count me as another person that enjoys watching Charla and Mirna. Not that I really like Mirna - she seems pretty obnoxious to me and, yeah, she’s completely paranoid about the other people being “out to get them”. I like Charla and I like the team for the entertainment value they bring. I hope they hang in there for a while, but I have the feeling that Christen and Colin are going to be the winners this season. If I could pick the order of finish for the teams that are left it would be:
Moms
Chip & Kim
Charla & Mirna
Christen and Colin
Team Blue Lagoon
Twins.
Holy *&%$ that was the funniest part of the show! It wasn’t just the fact that Charla said it, but the fact that the editors then decided to take a long shot on the lamb’s bad face. I pretty much lost it right there.
I was really surprised with the Bowling Moms’ way of getting back in the race despite the major setback of having $0.00. Also, the fact that they got enough cash to pay for the rest of the taxi fares as well as just the immediate one was good.
One question, is the money they receive part of their eating money as well? I’m sure they eat on flights for free but the only flight they had in this leg was from Cairo to Luxor.
Besides the fact no one knew what a scarab was, anyone else surprised by the spastic searching? I would have used my shovel to mark off a grid pattern and then searched a bit more carefully!
I just noticed that CBS is now accepting applications for TAR7. I’m definitely going to apply, though since it requires a submission video with both team members together I won’t be able to use my brothers as teammates (one is out of the country and doing the preliminary interviews is out of the question, the other is on the side of the country from me and while it could be doable it would be tricky).
Yes, the money is meant to be used for everything except plane tickets. If the teams chose to eat during a leg, they’d have to use this money. They can’t eat all they want during the pit stops, and as was shown last night, they can bring snacks with them. Presumably the apples that the Moms had came from the pit stop. I’m sure most teams pack bottled water from the pitstops too.
I don’t think we’ve ever seen a team do anything more than snack unless they are stuck at an airport or bus or train station. Typically the legs themselves (outside the occasional long train or bus ride) aren’t so long that this is doable. It looked to me that this leg lasted about 12 hours, which I think is pretty typical for non-border crossing rounds.
I had been rooting for the moms but I was a little put off by their attitudes in the taxi. I know that they are frustrated and I know that the taxi driver didn’t do them any favors, but yelling at him, then talking about him (unless that was a voiceover?) when he’s in his own country speaking the language of his country (unless he was an immigrant to Egypt) and they are the ones who, if there is a problem in communication, have the problem.
Like I said, I know they had to have been frustrated, but I wanted a bit more grace under fire.
